title: Anemia as a risk factor for low bone mineral density in postmenopausal Turkish women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We investigated the association of bone mineral density (BMD) by detected dual-energy X-ray absorptiometric (DXA) method and hemoglobin (Hb) levels in a large sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  The current study enrolled 371 postmenopausal women (82 anemic patients), who were screened for osteopenia or osteoporosis by DXA. Patients with osteopenia or osteoporosis (T score<-1.0 SD) were grouped as having low bone mass (LBM).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Anemic patients were older and had significantly higher duration of menopause. When compared with subjects with normal Hb, anemic patients had significant lower femur t score, femur BMD, femur Z score, spinal t score, spinal BMD and spinal Z score (p<0.001). Additionally, the ratio of subjects with LBM in the femur and spine were significantly high in anemic patients (p<0.002, p<0.002, respectively). There were significant correlations between Hb values and femur t score, femur BMD, spine t score, and spine BMD values of the study population in bivariate correlation analysis (r=0.150, p=0.004, r=0.148, p=0.004, r=0.160, p=0.002, r=0.164, p=0.001, respectively). Furthermore, presence of anemia was found to be an independent predictor of LBM for spine [OR: 2.483 (95% CI: 1.309-4.712), p<0.005] in logistic regression analysis. Additionally, number of anemic patients was significantly high in low femur and spine BMD groups (56 vs. 26; p=0.01, 66 vs. 16; p=0.002, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have found that the presence of anemia was as an independent predictor of LBM for spine after adjusting for body mass index and other confounders in postmenopausal Turkish women.
authors.affiliation: Duzce University Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Duzce, Turkey. drkorkmazugur@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ugur
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Korkmaz
authors.forename: Nurdan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Korkmaz
authors.forename: Selma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yazici
authors.forename: Melih
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erkan
authors.forename: Ali Erdem
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Baki
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yazici
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ozhan
authors.forename: Safinaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ataoğlu
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015519:Bone Density; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins