Bone Abstracts

Objective: Individuals with type 2 diabetes have increased fracture risk despite higher bone mineral density (BMD). There are few studies regarding the effect of diabetes on bone mineral density and hip geometry in Asian population. The aim of this study was to examine the gender-specific influence of diabetes on BMD and hip geometry.

Subjects and methods: A total of 1334 subjects (571 men and 763 women) ≥50 years of age were analyzed using data from the 2008 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV). Femoral neck, lumbar spine BMD, and hip structural analyses were done using the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

Results: Among the whole study population, 16% had type 2 diabetes (17.1% in men and 15.9% in women). Subjects with diabetes were older, and had higher BMI than those without diabetes. Lumbar spine BMD was higher in men and women with diabetes compared to non-diabetic men and women respectively, after adjusting for age, height, and weight. Femoral neck BMD was similar between those with diabetes and without diabetes. Meanwhile, after dividing by lean body mass, diabetic women had 4% lower BMD (P=0.031), 6% thinner cortices (P<0.001), and 3.4% narrower neck width (P=0.033) than non-diabetic women. However, the BMD, cortical thickness, and neck width in the diabetic men was similar to those in individuals without diabetes.

Conclusions: Femoral neck BMD, cortical thickness, and neck width were significantly lower after adjusting for lean body mass in women with diabetes than controls. This may partly explain the higher fracture risk in patients with type 2 diabetes.