Prevalence of osteoporosis in patients with diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis (OP) and diabetes mellitus (DM) are two major healthcare issues in the world. Numerous population based-studies have reported an increased prevalence of OP among individuals with DM, though, estimates vary significantly. PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of OP in patients with DM. METHODS: To identify relevant literature, PubMed, Embase, Medline, CBM and Cochrane Library were searched for studies published from inception till July 2022, The search was conducted, and studies were included without countries and language restrictions. For full-text articles included in the study, the references were also independently searched. Random inverse variance-weighted models were used by Stata version 17.0 to estimate the prevalence of OP in patients with diabetes across studies. The heterogeneity was examined with I(2) via the χ(2) test on Cochrane’s Q statistic. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to explore potential sources of heterogeneity. Egger’s test was used to assess publication bias. RESULTS: A high OP prevalence of 27.67% (95% confidence interval (CI) 21.37-33.98%) was found in a pooled analysis of 21 studies involving 11,603 T2DM patients. Methodological value of the included articles was high, with only three medium-quality studies and no low-quality studies. A significantly high heterogeneity (I(2) = 98.5%) was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Worldwide, a high prevalence of OP was found in patients with T2DM. Therefore, strong measures to prevent and treat osteoporosis in diabetic patients are required. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study has been registered on PROSPERO, number CRD42021286580. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12902-022-01260-8.