Is osteoporosis more common among adult Sri Lankans with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: IBD is a recognized risk factor for osteoporosis among Caucasians. Although the incidence of IBD seems to be increasing in Asians, there are no data on osteoporosis in Asian patients. Objective: To determine whether osteoporosis is more common among adult Sri Lankans with IBD. DESIGN, SETTING AND METHODS: Consecutive patients with previously diagnosed IBD who were older than 30 years and age and sex matched controls from the general population (3 controls for I patient) were screened for osteoporosis using a previously validated peripheral DEXA scan. Patients who were pregnant, had other significant co-morbidities, were on caicium supplements or on treatment for osteoporosis within the past 6 months were excluded. RESULTS: There were 86 IBD patients (55 females, mean age 46.4 years) and 258 controls (165 females, mean age 47.3 years). Osteoporosis was significantly more common among IBD patients (14.7%) than controls (6.5%) (P=0.048). Increasing age (P=0.019), female gender (P=O.OOS), menopause (P=0.022) and use of systemic steroids (P= 0.008) were found to be significantly associated with osteoporosis among JBD patients, while severity of disease (PKK470), number of relapses (P=0.391), duration of illness (P=0.540) and treatments other than systemic steroids (P=0.434) were not. Osteoporosis did not differ significantly between patients with ulcerative colitis (14.28%) and Crohn's disease (15.79%) (P=0.891). CONCLUSION: Osteoporosis is more common among adult Sri Lankans with IBD than community controls. The use of systemic steroids is a disease related independent risk factor for development of osteoporosis in these patients.