Evaluation of Factors Related to Bone Mineral Density Improvement in Postmenopausal Osteoporotic Women

This study aims to assess the association of bone mineral density improvement in osteoporotic postmenopausal women with age of menarche, age of menopause and lifestyle over a period of 1 to 2 years. Design: This is a comparative study of 150 postmenopausal women attending a family practice clinic. Materials and methods: For women participating in the study two DXA scans were compared and women were interviewed. The association of bone mineral density improvement with age of menarche, age of menopause and lifestyle was investigated. Results: Mean age of menopause ±SD of the controls (47.3± 6.3 years) was significantly less than mean age of menopause ±SD of the improved group (49.1 ±4.9 years), p=0.042. Women who were exposed to sun daily were 4.5 times more likely to be in the improved group, p=0.000. In addition, women who exposed their face, hands and arms were 3.48 times more likely to be in the improved group, p=0.004. And women who were exposed to sun with bare skin were almost 6 times more likely to be in the improved group, p=0.000. Conclusion: Healthy lifestyle behaviors in terms of sun exposure were helpful to improve BMD. Emphasizing on health education for osteoporotic patients is recommended in this regard.