Bone Health in Ajman: A Cross-Sectional Study of Bone Mineral Density Among Adults

Bone mineral density (BMD) is a quantitative measurement of the amount of inorganic minerals which are present in a particular volume of bone. Variations in BMD are dependent on a variety of factors including age, sex, race, family history, age at menarche and menopause, and the presence of any other health conditions. This study aims to determine the association between categories of BMD among individuals referred to the department of radiodiagnosis for dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan and associated clinico-epidemiological factors.

A record-based cross-sectional study was used to collect the data of 335 individuals who presented to the department of radiodiagnosis at Thumbay University Hospital, Ajman, UAE., for DEXA scan from 2015 to 2022. SPSS Version 28 was used for analysis. Inferential statistics like chi-square was performed to establish the association between variables, and a p-value less than or equal to 0.05 was taken to be statistically significant.

Among 335 individuals, 64.8% were females and 35.2% were males. Majority of the participants belonged to the 40-59 age group at 54.3%, were of African origin at 53.7%, and were classified as overweight/obese at 86.3%. The left hip T score was statistically significant with geographical origin (p < 0.001) and menopausal status (p < 0.01) as well as a history of disc disorders (p = 0.05). The spine T score was statistically significant in terms of its association with age (p = 0.04), geographical origin (p < 0.001), and menopausal status (p < 0.001). The combination T score taken based on both spine and hip T scores was found to be statistically significant in terms of association with sex (p = 0.05), age (p < 0.001), geographical origin (p < 0.001), and body mass index (p = 0.003).

Our study, aimed at determining the association between different categories of BMD and clinicoepidemiological factors of the participants, found that increasing age, underweight/normal weight category, being male, and belonging to the African region were significantly associated with the combination T scores.