The impact of osteoporosis and vertebral compression fractures on mortality and association with pulmonary function
Loukas Kakoullis1, Fotios Sampsonas1, Vasileios Karamouzos2
1Department of Respiratory Medicine, University General Hospital of Patras, Patras, Greece.
Objective:
Osteoporosis is highly prevalent among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and most commonly presents as a vertebral compression fracture (VCF). Our objective was to quantify the effect of osteoporosis and VCFs on the mortality and pulmonary function tests (PFTs), such as forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC), of patients with COPD.
Methods:
A PubMed/Medline search was conducted using the search terms "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease", "osteoporosis" and "vertebral compression fracture". Meta-analyses were conducted to evaluate the differences in mortality and PFTs between patients with COPD with and without osteoporosis or VCFs, according to PRISMA guidelines. PROSPERO registration: CRD42019120335.
Results:
Of the 896 abstracts identified, 27 studies describing 7662 patients with COPD of which 1883 (24.6%) had osteoporosis or VCFs, were included. Random effects model analysis demonstrated that patients with COPD and osteoporosis or VCFs had an increased OR for mortality of 2.40 (95% CI: 1.24; 4.64, I2=89%, P<0.01), decreased FEV1/FVC with a mean difference of -4.80% (95% CI: -6.69; -2.90, I2=83%, P<0.01) and decreased FEV1, with a mean difference of -4.91% (95% CI: -6.51; -3.31, I2=95%, P<0.01) and -0.41 L (95% CI: -0.59; -0.24, I2=97%, P<0.01), compared to control subjects. Apart from FEV1 (liters) in subgroup 1 (P=0.06), all subgroup analyses found significant differences between groups, as did sensitivity analysis of low risk of bias studies.
Conclusion:
Osteoporosis and VCFs are associated with a significant reduction in survival and pulmonary function among patients with COPD.
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