| Objective To investigate the relationship between body composition and bone mineral density (BMD) in pre- and post-menopausal Mulam women, and to explore the impact of body composition change on BMD. Methods A total of 200 Mulam women were randomly selected from Guangxi province as participants, and they were Mulam tracing back up to three generations. Their body composition indices including muscle mass, fat mass, etc., were assessed with TANITA-MC180. The stiffness index (SI) of the right calcaneus was determined with SONOT3000. Results ①Compared with premenopausal women, postmenopausal women had lower weight, fat-free mass (FFM), muscle mass (MM), subcutaneous fat content (SFC), trunk-fat mass (TFM), limb muscle mass (LMM), presumption of bone mass (PoBM), and T-score, but higher visceral fat area (VFA) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (P<0.01). ②The prevalence of osteoporosis were 6% and 45% in pre- and post-menopausal women, respectively, and the differences were significant (P<0.01). ③MM, LMM, and trunk-muscle mass (TMM) were positively correlated with BMD (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Body composition was not correlated with BMD after adjusting age and menopausal status. All the muscle mass indices were closely correlated with BMD (P<0.05) in over 50 years old group, but not in below 50 years old group. ④Multiple stepwise regression analyses indicated that only menopausal status, TMM, and visceral fat content (VFC) were significantly related with BMD, and TMM had the most significant impact on BMD. Conclusion The prevalence of osteoporosis is higher in postmenopausal Mulam women than that in premenopausal women. However, after adjusting age and menopausal status, only TMM is significantly related with BMD. This research provides reference data for preventing and diagnosing osteoporosis in clinic. |