Aim: Association of various demographic characteristics with osteoporosis in post menopausal women.

Study design: Descriptive study.

Place and duration of study: Radiology Department North West General Hospital and Research Centre, Peshawar, from 15th August 2013 to 14th August 2014.

Methodology: Post menopausal women referred for osteoporosis screening were scanned for bone mineral density (BMD) of the left hip by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) technique. Patients who were using any drugs or had any known disease affecting bone metabolism and patients already diagnosed as osteoporotic were excluded. Mean±SD were calculated for numerical data using SPSS version 16. Chi-Square test was applied.

Results: Among the 318 post menopausal women, the mean age was 62.51±9.15 and menopausal duration 15.19±8.27 years. Mean BMI was 29.2±6.47Kg/m2. Parity ranged from 0 to 14 children, with mean of 6±. Overall observed frequency of osteoporosis was 38.1%. Osteoporosis was significantly associated with older age groups (p<0.05). Majority of patients beyond the age of 70 years (58.3%) and with menopausal duration of ≥21 years (52.8%) had osteoporosis. Low BMI, defined as BMI<18.5Kg/m2, was associated with lower BMD (p<0.01). No significant association was established between early and late onset menopause and osteoporosis, as well as high parity and osteoporosis in our study.

Conclusion: Increasing age, longer duration of menopause, low BMI, and physical inactivity were significantly associated with the presence of osteoporosis.

Keywords: Osteoporosis, Menopause, Bone Mineral Density (BMD), Dual-Energy X ray Absorptiometry (DEXA)