Depression and low bone mineral density: The correlation among Chinese

Depression is usually associated with changes in the endogenous hormonal system. The most important hormonal modifications are elevation of the serum cortisol level as well as the reduction of endogenous sex hormone levels. These changes have advanced side effects on a bone metabolism and bone remodelling process, which consequently, lead to the declining in bone mineral density and increase the risk of bone fractures, which is reported by current studies.

To evaluate the association of low bone density with depression among Malaysian Chinese.

91 Chinese participants with depression were chosen from psychiatric clinics in Penang General Hospital and Penang Adventist Hospital, and 98 Chinese volunteers were employed from the community as controls of both genders, with their ages ranging from 25 to 65 years. Bone mineral density was detected by measuring the T-score and Z-score of the calcaneus bone at the heel; this was measured using the CM200 Furuno ultrasound bone densitometry.

The bone mineral density of the depressed group was observed to be significantly lower in terms of the T-score (P=0.020) and insignificantly lower in terms of Z-score as compared with the control group. Participants with depression had 1.5-fold relative risk (RR) of having T-score less than -1.0 (low bone density). Logistic regression was then used to adjust all confounding variables which showed a significant association between depression and low bone mineral density with an odds ratio of 2.28.

Depression may be associated with low bone mineral density among the Malaysian Chinese.