Endocrine Abstracts

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis on a sample of postmenopausal women (n=88, aged 66±5 years) attending the osteoporosis outpatient service of our University Hospital between September and October 2023. All patients underwent physical examination and Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (GE HealthCare-Lunar) scans at lumbar spine and hip level. 10-years risk of major osteoporotic fracture was assessed with the FRAX® algorithm. Level of physical activity was assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) - Short Form, whereas adherence to Mediterranean diet was evaluated by the Medi-Lite score. Associations were tested using logistic regression analysis, with dichotomic variables entered as follows: 10-years fracture risk >20% vs <20%; being overweight/obese (BMI ≥25) vs normal weight (BMI ≤25); low level of physical activity (IPAQ class 3) vs moderate/high level (IPAQ class 1 or 2); low adherence to Mediterranean diet (Medi-Lite score <6) vs moderate/high adherence (Medi-Lite score 7-18). The majority of women had osteopenia (47%) or osteoporosis (41%) according to relative T-Score reference range. None reported a history of fracture. More than 90% of the patients were on anti-resorptive therapy (bisphosphonates, denosumab) and/or vitamin D supplementation, as appropriate. Approximately one-third of the patients (27.3%) were overweight or obese according to BMI (≥25). BMI ≥25 was significantly associated with having a 10-years risk of fracture higher than 20%, irrespective of age and concomitant medications (OR 1.28; 1.11-2.72, P=0.038). Being physical inactive according to IPAQ was significantly associated with having a 10-years risk of fracture higher than 20%, irrespective of age, concomitant medications and class of BMI (OR 1.76; 1.22-3.01, P=0.004), whereas no significant association were seen between adherence to Mediterranean diet and 10-years risk of fracture (OR 1.12; 0.76-1.91, P=0.42). Low level of physical activity assessed with a standardized self-administered questionnaire (IPAQ) turns out to be significantly related with a 10-years major osteoporotic fracture risk higher than 20% in an unselected group of post-menopausal women with osteopenia/osteoporosis. This relationship may be independent of body weight and adherence to Mediterranean diet. Since assessment of physical activity is currently not included in the FRAX® algorithm, these preliminary results deserve to be confirmed/better addresses in a broader population of post-menopausal women.