Abstract:
Background: Osteoporosis is one of the systemic features of chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, and its prevalence is assumed to be two -to five -folds higher than in age and sex
matched healthy subjects.
Objective: This study was designed to assess the prevalence of osteoporosis and associated
factors among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease attending in chest clinic of
Jimma University Specialized Hospital, South West Ethiopia
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we conducted dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry bone
mineral density scan of the lumbar spine (2―4) for three repetitive measurements and collected
data from patient’s medical chart (doses and frequency of corticosteroid therapy), and other
potential factors via structured questionnaires. Data was processed and analyzed using statistical
package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21. Binary logistic regression was used to control the
confounders, and the strength of the association was expressed in adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with
95% confidence interval (CI). Finally, an association with p-value < 0.05 was considered as
statistically significant.
Results: Among 80 -patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease evaluated; the
prevalence of osteoporosis was found to be 33 (41.3%). Further, two variables such as; smoking
cigarette [AOR= 4.949; 95% CI: 1.323, 18.508] and doses of corticosteroid therapy [AOR=
4.768; 95% CI: 1.258, 18.065] were found to be significantly associated with osteoporosis (pvalue < 0.05).
Conclusion: This study comes with high prevalence of osteoporosis among patients with chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease in Jimma University Specialized Hospital. Factors such as
smoking cigarette and doses of corticosteroid therapy were found to be significantly associated
with osteoporosis.
