PREVALENCE OF OSTEOPOROSIS AND OSTEOPENIA IN PATIENTS PRESENTINGWITH BODY ACHES AND PAINS PREVIOUSLY TREATED AS A CASE OFDEPRESSIVE ILLNESSD AS A CASE OF DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63735/Abstract
Objective: To determine the prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia in patients presenting
with body aches and pains who had been previously treated for depressive illness. Methods: In
this cross-sectional study, 144 consecutive patients referred for Dual-energy X-ray
Absorptiometry (DXA) due to unexplained muscoskeletal pain were analyzed. Patients were
stratified into two diagnostic groups per ISCD guidelines: Group A were comprised of pre-
menopausal women and men aged less than 50 years, where osteoporosis was defined as a bone
mineral density (BMD) Z-score ≤ -2.0. Group B includes post-menopausal women and men aged
≥50 years, where the standard T-score ≤ -2.5 was applied. Osteopenia was defined as a BMD
between -1.0 and the diagnostic threshold for osteoporosis in each group. Results: A total of 144
patients were enrolled: 68 aged 30–49 years (Group A) and 76 aged 50–80 years (Group B).
Both groups were predominantly female (94.1% and 92.1%, respectively). Normal BMD was
observed in 44.1% of Group A versus 31.6% of Group B. Osteopenia prevalence was similar
between groups (44.1% vs. 42.1%). However, osteoporosis was markedly higher in Group B
(26.3%) compared to Group A (11.8%). Conclusion: A significant number proportion of patients
presenting with body aches and pains previously treated for depression have underlying
osteopenia or osteoporosis. These findings underscore the importance of considering bone health
assessment in depressive patients, even in younger and pre-menopausal population, to prevent
under-diagnosis and future fracture risk.
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The data analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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