Osteoporosis among Postmenopausal Women Attending the Orthopedics Department of a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Osteoporosis and resulting fracture is a major public health concern worldwide. With increase in life expectancy, osteoporosis and fragility fracture is expected to be more prevalent. It is associated with high patient morbidity, while hip and vertebral fractures have high mortality. The real burden of the problem is yet to be established in developing countries like Nepal. This study aims to find out the prevalence of osteoporosis among postmenopausal women visiting a tertiary care hospital. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 89 postmenopausal women attending at Orthopedic Outpatient Department of Bharatpur Hospital from 1st January 2019 to 30th December 2019. The ethical clearance was taken from the Institutional Review Committee of Bharatpur Hospital. Convenience sampling technique was used. Bone Mineral Density was estimated with dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scan. Statistical Package for Social Science was used for analysis. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. RESULTS: Out of 89 postmenopausal women, 29 (32.58%) (Confidence Interval = 32.48-32.68) women had osteoporosis. The mean age and Bone Mineral Density were 62.16±8.17 years and 0.968±0.14 g/cm(2) respectively. The women with history of fragility fracture had low bone mineral density. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of osteoporosis was high among postmenopausal women. Women with history of fragility fracture are at increased risk of another fragility fracture. It is hence necessary to have awareness programs and early screening to minimize the magnitude of morbidity and mortality associated with osteoporosis.