Objective To investigate the prevalence rate of osteopenia (OPA) and osteoporosis (OP) and incidence of osteoporotic fractures in middle-aged and elderly adults in Guangzhou community, and to analyze the trend of osteoporosis prevalence in recent years. Methods Data on gender, age, height, weight, fracture history, etc. were collected by handling out questionnaires. BMD of lumbar vertebrae and left hip were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in 1529 individuals (aged 40—87 years). Statistical analyses were performed by gender and age groups. Results Hip BMD of each group decreased gradually with increasing age, while BMD of lumbar spine did not show a decreasing trend with age. Hip BMD was significantly lower than lumbar spine BMD in those aged over 60 years (P<0.05). According to the lumbar spine BMD value, the total prevalence rate of OP in the community was 30.7%, with significantly higher prevalence rate in females than in males (34.2% vs 17.9%, P<0.05). The overall prevalence rate of OPA was 41.8%, 42.4% in males and 41.6% in females, and there was no significant difference between the two groups. According to the hip BMD value, the prevalence of OP was higher and reached 38.2% in the total population; in women it increased to 39.4%, higher than the 33.9% in men (P<0.05). The overall prevalence rate of OPA was 47.4%, 52.7% in males and 46.0% in females (P>0.05). Among the investigated middle-aged and elderly adults, there were 82 cases of fracture in men and 357 cases of fracture in women. The incidence of fracture in OP patients was 37.8%, much higher than the incidence in non-OP patients of 23.1% (P<0.01). The incidence of secondary fractures was 6.2% in OP patients, higher than the incidence in non-OP patients of 2.64% (P<0.05). Conclusion The prevalence rate of osteoporosis and incidence of fragility fracture in middle-aged and elderly adults in Guangzhou community was high, and its incidence rate was higher than that in the past. Early screening, early diagnosis and early treatment should be recommended. The sensitivity of osteoporosis assessment based on hip BMD was higher; hip should be the first preferred site for BMD measurement. |