Assessment of Osteoporosis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Study from the Central Region of Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To understand the impact of diabetes on bone mineral density and whether it increases the likelihood of osteoporosis.

Methods: This study was performed on 327 Saudis (aged >40 years) who were screened for osteoporosis and diabetes mellitus (DM). The levels of osteoporosis were determined by an estimation of Bone mineral density (BMD) using a DEXA scan examination. The data on BMD from diabetic subjects were compared with healthy nondiabetic controls.

Results: Out of 327 enrolled subjects, 38 (11.6%) were found to be osteoporotic, whereas 138 (42.2%) had DM. The data showed that the number of patients with osteoporosis in the DM group was 14 (36.8%), significantly lower than in nondiabetic patients, 21 (55.2%) (=0.0015). Notably, the data showed no significant difference in the mean BMD of the femur in patients with DM (0.926 g/cm) and non-diabetes (0.936 g/cm) (=0.280; T-score =0.4746). The mean BMD levels in the spine of the DM study group (1.049 g/cm) were significantly higher when compared with nondiabetic healthy controls (0.990 g/cm) (=0.0031).

Conclusion: Patients with diabetes had higher lumbar BMD than nondiabetics, although femoral BMD was similar. Patients with diabetes have a lower osteoporosis risk than nondiabetics.