Does Lumbar Spondylosis Save the Spine From steoporosis? A Cross Sectional Study on 104 Postmenopausal Women

Objective: Osteoporosis (OP) and osteoarthritis (OA) are two musculoskeletal disorders commonly affect older population. We aim to investigate the possible relationship may be present between OA and OP in the area of lumbar spine. Methods: This cross - sectional study was carried out on postmenopausal female patients complaining of chronic low back pain (LBP) more than three months who were referred to our orthopedic clinic. At first, demographic data were collected. Bone Mineral Density (BMD) in the lumbar region was calculated and the patients were divided into three categories: normal, osteopenia and osteoporosis. The severity of OA was divided into five grades (from 0 to 4) based on Kellgren / Lawrence (KL) system. Body mass index (BMI) was also calculated. Finally the data entered into computer and statistical analysis was performed to achieve the desired goals. The correlation between age, BMI, and lumbar T score with grade of OA was evaluated using spearman test. Results: The test results showed that grade of OA i s significantly correlated with age and BMI. There was a significant positive correlation between grade of OA and lumbar T score. Lumbar T score had a significant negative correlation with age and a significant positive correlation with BMI. Conclusions: T his study showed that the grades of lumbar OA and lumbar T score in postmenopausal women are in positive significant correlation. In other words, there was a significant and negative correlation between the grade of OA and OP.