Prevalence and Predictors of Osteoporosis in the Beijing's Urban Population

With one of the biggest populations in the world, China was heavily suffered from osteoporosis. The prevalence of osteoporosis in China even is increasing fast in recent years, which are especially notable in urban population. This change maybe due to the conditions including rapid economic growth, increase in life expectancy, and changes in lifestyle. Studies in 1998 including 13 separately small samples (no more than 1000 people) from 9 provinces in China showed that the prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia were 5.3-6.2% and 5.8-11.2%, respectively. These estimates were higher by approximately 1% than those reported in 1995. In 2002, according to DEXA results in connection with population census in 2000, Xiaoguang Cheng et al. took a survey in 600 people who were separately studied in previously 10 research projects and find that patients with osteoporosis account for approximately 6.97% of the total China population.

Although these studies have documented a remarkable increase in the prevalence of osteoporosis in China, these estimations were all based on small samples. No risk factors related with osteoporosis and osteopenia, esp. hypovitaminosis D on osteoporosis and osteopenia, have been analyzed yet. So it is impossible to make any forecast of osteoporosis or give any instruction for intervention.

Thus this study designed to provide current and reliable data on the prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia and associated risk factors correlation coefficients in the Beijing's urban adult population.