Abstract
Smeltzer SC, Zimmerman V, Capriotti T. Osteoporosis risk and low bone mineral density
in women with physical disabilities.
Objectives
To describe the results of bone mineral density (BMD) screening in women with different
physical disabilities and to identify their risk factors for osteoporosis and use
of strategies to prevent osteoporosis.
Design
A cross-sectional descriptive study.
Setting
Community.
Participants
Convenience sample of 429 community-residing women with different disabilities.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main outcome measures
Peripheral BMD screening of the os calcis, using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry.
A self-administered survey addressed osteoporosis risk factors, use of osteoporosis
prevention strategies, and previous recommendations for BMD screening or testing.
Results
Based on World Health Organization criteria, 30.5% and 22.6% of the total sample had
BMD values indicative of osteopenia and osteoporosis, respectively. The number of
self-reported osteoporosis risk factors ranged from 0 to 10 (mean, 4.5±1.7). Subjects
reported using few strategies to reduce their osteoporosis risks. One quarter of the
women reported previous BMD screening or testing; about one third reported receiving
recommendations for testing or screening by a health care provider.
Conclusions
More than half of the sample had low BMD, and it was present in premenopausal as well
as menopausal women. Despite low BMD and the presence of osteoporosis risk factors,
less than a third of the women previously had BMD testing or screening or recommendations
for such testing. Because low BMD is common in women with disabilities, greater attention
must be directed toward their risk for osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures. Prevention
strategies to reduce osteoporosis risk should be considered, although their efficacy
is not yet known in populations with disabilities.
Key words
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Article info
Footnotes
Supported by Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation through the Health Promotion for Women with Disabilities Project.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the author(s) or on any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
Identification
Copyright
© 2005 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
