Bone health among older adults in Taiwan.
OBJECTIVE
There has been much discussion about the risk factors for osteoporosis, but studies involving elderly population in Taiwan are minimal. We aimed to describe variables related to osteoporosis among community dwelling older people in Taiwan.


METHODS
This is a cross-sectional study. The 671 participants were randomly selected from 3680 examinees of the annual Senior Citizens Health Examination in year 2010. Participants were interviewed with a detailed questionnaire, and 91 of them were invited for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Predictor variables included age, gender and clinical risk factors for osteoporosis. The main outcome was osteoporosis confirmed by DXA.


RESULTS
The mean age of the participants was 75.7±6.4years old. Overall, the most prevalent variables for osteoporosis were height loss in adulthood (41.0%), lack of dairy products or calcium supplements (32.0%) and insufficient physical activity (10.4%). In multivariate models, we found that underweight (OR=9.80) and lack of dairy products/calcium supplements (OR=3.68) were the main variables for osteoporosis. In the subgroup analysis involving only women, underweight (OR=14.60) was the main variable.


CONCLUSIONS
Among community-dwelling older people in Taiwan, osteoporosis was mainly associated with underweight and lack of dairy products or calcium supplements.


CONCLUSIONS
We suggest using the key questions of underweight and dietary pattern in clinical settings to identify high risk people who are candidates for further BMD exam.
Department of Family Medicine, Renai Branch, Taipei City Hospital, 10F, No. 10, Sec. 4, Ren-Ai Rd., Taipei City 106, Taiwan. Electronic address: vint315@msn.com.
Wei-Jen
WJ
Wang
Department of Family Medicine, Renai Branch, Taipei City Hospital, 10F, No. 10, Sec. 4, Ren-Ai Rd., Taipei City 106, Taiwan. Electronic address: DAA87@tpech.gov.tw.
Kuan-Liang
KL
Kuo
Department of Orthopaedics, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, No. 95, Wen-Chang Rd., Taipei City 111, Taiwan; National Taiwan University School of Medicine, No.1, Sec.1, Ren-Ai Rd., Taipei City 100, Taiwan; School of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, No. 510, Zhong-Zheng Rd., Xin-Zhuang Dist., New Taipei City 242, Taiwan. Electronic address: d92008@csie.ntu.edu.tw.
Chen-Kun
CK
Liaw
Department of Family Medicine, Renai Branch, Taipei City Hospital, 10F, No. 10, Sec. 4, Ren-Ai Rd., Taipei City 106, Taiwan; Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine and Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 5F, No. 17, Hsu-Chow Rd., Taipei City 100, Taiwan. Electronic address: taiyinwu@ntu.edu.tw.
Tai-Yin
TY
Wu
Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine and Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 5F, No. 17, Hsu-Chow Rd., Taipei City 100, Taiwan. Electronic address: weichu@ntu.edu.tw.
Wei-Chu
WC
Chie
Department of Family Medicine, Renai Branch, Taipei City Hospital, 10F, No. 10, Sec. 4, Ren-Ai Rd., Taipei City 106, Taiwan. Electronic address: DAB84@tpech.gov.tw.
Jer-Min
JM
Chen
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015519:Bone Density; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology
D002136:Calcium, Dietary
Older people; Osteoporosis; Risk factors