Diabetes ups risk of nonvertebral fractures in postmenopausal women with obesity
04 Aug 2022
Postmenopausal women with obesity are at heightened risk of developing nonvertebral fractures in the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a study has found.
The study included 679 postmenopausal women (mean age 60.6 years, mean weight 66 kg) with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 27 kg/m2, among whom 186 had obesity (mean BMI 33.8 kg/m2) and 81 had T2DM.
Researchers assessed serum levels of 25(OH)-vitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH), as well as bone mineral density (BMD) and prevalent fragility fractures.
Compared with nonobese controls, obese women were older (mean age 59.0 vs 64.8 years; p<0.001) and had a higher prevalence of T2DM (9.9 percent vs 17.2 percent; p=0.009), higher PTH levels (42.1 vs 54.9 pg/mL; p<0.001), and lower 25(OH)-vitamin D levels (23.0 vs 20.8 ng/mL; p<0.001).
Furthermore, the obese group had higher BMD values at the lumbar spine (0.905 vs 0.831 g/cm2; p<0.001), femoral neck (0.736 vs 0.635 g/cm2; p<0.001), and total hip (0.887 vs 0.758 g/cm2; p<0.001).
In the group of women with obesity, nonvertebral fractures were more prevalent among those with vs without T2DM (45 vs 20; p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that fragility fractures were associated with age, total hip BMD, BMI, and T2DM.
The findings indicate that comorbid obesity and T2DM is a risk factor for nonvertebral fragility fractures.