Prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia among persons aged 60 years and above: A cross-sectional study

Objectives Worldwide, bone diseases are considered significant threats to individuals in advanced age. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia among persons aged 60 years and above. Also, it aims to determine the association and correlation between osteoporosis and osteopenia with demographic variables. Material and Methods It was a cross-sectional survey, carried out from the representative large-scale sample of older adults in Nigeria, from April 2023 to July 2023. A total of 8,140 older adults were recruited for the study. A semi-structured questionnaire with 0.81 reliability index was used for data collection. Statistical computation was through International Business Machine -Special Package for the Social Sciences version 22. Using frequency counts, percentage scores, odds ratio estimates and independent chi-square statistics, data analysis was completed. Results were significant at p-value<.05. Results A total of 6,820(92.2%) valid copies of the questionnaire were analyzed. Osteoporosis (72.2%) and osteopenia (27.8%) were prevalent among persons aged 60 years and above. Female older adults had high prevalence of osteoporosis (73.8%), while osteopenia (30.0%) was high in the male counterparts. Significant association existed between osteoporosis and osteopenia with gender, age, education, tobacco use and location (p-value<0.05) while none was observed with marital status and alcohol consumption (p-value>0.05) respectively. Also, there was positive correlation between osteoporosis and osteopenia with age and alcohol intake (OR≥1) while negative correlation existed on gender, marital status and location (OR≤1) respectively. Conclusion Both osteoporosis and osteopenia are prevalent among persons aged 60 years and above in Nigeria. Bone diseases are associated and correlated with demographic characteristics. Considering the severe health consequences such as bone fragility fracture, intervention approaches are paramount.