Evaluation of the Quality of Life and the Quality of Sleep of postmenopausal osteoporotic women, without evidence of an osteoporotic fracture, who attended an outpatient DXA scan service

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to investigate whether impairment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and possibly, the quality of sleep (Sleep Quality – SQ), of osteoporotic women, may occur, even before the onset of an osteoporotic fracture. METHODS: The study included 109 women, divided (DXA) into two groups (age-matched): the Control Group (n=68; normal and osteopenic) and the Patient Group (n=41; osteoporotic). Review of medical history of the participants, was followed by evaluation of HRQOL and SQ with the EQ-5D-3L and the PSQI questionnaires, respectively. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the two groups (Control vs. Patient) in terms of average HRQOL and SQ, as measured by the EQ-5D-3L Questionnaire (0.73 vs. 0.70, p>0.05) and the PSQI Index value (5.56 vs. 6.29, p>0.05), respectively. A high percentage of patients was estimated as having a poor SQ (52.9% of the Control Group and 46.3% of the Patient Group, p>0.05). Increasing age, with or without the presence of osteoporosis, seemed to lead to worst QoL (OR<1.00, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study documented homogeneity in HRQOL and SQ, between the two study groups. The strongest predictor for the HRQOL was age (for each year of age increase, the probability of excellent HRQOL significantly decreased).