One in Four People With Diabetes Worldwide Have Osteoporosis

TUESDAY, Jan. 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) – More than one-quarter of people with diabetes have osteoporosis (OP), according to a review published online Jan. 3 in BMC Endocrine Disorders.

Xueying Liu, from First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University in Hefei, China, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of OP in patients with diabetes. A total of 21 studies through July 2022, without country and language restrictions, were included.

In a pooled analysis, the researchers found that among 11,603 people with type 2 diabetes, there was a high prevalence of OP (27.67 percent). Subgroup analyses showed some differences in prevalence, but these differences were not statistically significant. For instance, the prevalence of OP in diabetes patients aged 60 years or younger was lower (19.17 percent) than for older individuals (29.61 percent). There was also a positive trend toward a higher OP prevalence among women with diabetes. In patients with diabetes and obesity, OP prevalence was higher (32.02 percent) than in people with diabetes but without obesity (28.36 percent). The analysis was based on mostly high-quality studies and three medium-quality studies.

"Worldwide, a high prevalence of OP was found in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus," the authors write. "Strong measures to prevent and treat osteoporosis in diabetic patients are required."

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