FAMILY HISTORY - BMD INDEPENDENTLY - INFLUENCES FRACTURE RISK

Parental history of osteoporosis is associated with an increased risk of fracture. However, there are not many data on the mechanism of action.Our objective was to determine if heredity influences fracture rate: independently or through the bone mineral density; to identify also the strongest independent risk factors of osteoporotic fractures among our study population.

We processed data of 541 women outpatients with an average age of 55 years, participating in an osteoporosis screening program.Our results confirm that the presence of family history significantly increases fracture prevalence, (37% vs. 17%, p<0.001, OR 2.853, p=0.001) and decreases BMD scores. Fractures occur at higher (better) T and Z-scores. The risk of having T values in the range of (0- -1) and Z values in (-1--2) is much higher in the positive group. The logistic regression analysis confirms the BMD-independent influence of heredity on fracture risk.

Parental history of osteoporosis negatively affects bone density and significantly increases the incidence of fractures. The latter happens also independently of the bone density values. Timely intervention in these easy-to-detect cases may be the most effective prevention of osteoporotic fractures.