Do non-bone metabolism laboratory indicators differ between men and women with osteoporosis?: A retrospective study based on physical examination data

With the global population aging, osteoporosis has emerged as a significant health concern worldwide. Osteoporotic fractures predominantly occur in the forearm, hip, and lumbar spine, and are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Osteoporosis is a multifactorial disease, and prior research has identified several clinical risk factors, including advanced age, gender, weight, history of fractures, smoking, alcohol abuse, and corticosteroid use. To ascertain whether non-bone metabolic laboratory indicators associated with osteoporosis vary by gender, this study aims to enhance individual risk assessment, and inform targeted early prevention and treatment strategies for individuals at high risk of developing osteoporosis. Data were collected from a cohort of 4343 individuals who underwent routine physical examinations, bone mineral density (BMD) assessments, and associated laboratory tests at the Department of Health Management of the author's institution, spanning from January 2022 to June 2024. The study focused on analyzing non-bone metabolic laboratory indicators related to osteoporosis. Unconditional logistic regression was employed to evaluate the risk factors for osteoporosis and osteoporosis in both males and females. The influencing factors of osteoporosis in males are blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and in females, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and uric acid (UA). The influencing factors of osteopenia in males are BUN, while in females, they are hypertension UA, total cholesterol (TC). Age, weight, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) are common influencing factors for osteoporosis and osteopenia in different genders, but the importance of weight and ALP varies. The importance of weight was almost equal to age in male with osteopenia, but was significantly less than that of age in female. The importance ranking of influencing factors in male osteoporosis is weight and ALP, while for females it is ALP and weight. The influencing factors of osteopenia and osteoporosis vary between different genders. Even the same factor (weight, ALP) has different degrees of effect on osteopenia and osteoporosis in different genders.