Modern Aspects of Early Diagnosis of Osteoporosis in Premenopausal Women
Keywords:
Premenopausal women, osteoporosis, early diagnosisAbstract
Osteoporosis is a silent skeletal disease characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone microarchitecture, typically leading to increased fracture risk. While classically associated with postmenopausal estrogen deficiency, osteoporosis can also affect premenopausal women, especially when secondary factors such as vitamin D deficiency or endocrine disorders are present. Early diagnosis in premenopausal women is challenging because routine bone mineral density (BMD) screening is not usually performed in this age group. In this study, we analyzed data from 33 premenopausal women (mean age 44.9±2.4 years) to assess modern aspects of early detection. Femoral neck BMD (by DXA), T-score, Z-score, serum calcium, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (cholecalciferol) were measured. Descriptive statistics (mean, SD, percentiles) are presented in Table 1. Pearson correlation coefficients among age, BMD, T-score, Z-score, vitamin D, and calcium were computed (Table 3). Key findings include the expected strong inverse correlation between T-score and Z-score (r=–0.938, p<0.001) and moderate correlations between BMD and these scores (T-score: r=+0.503, p=0.003; Z-score: r=–0.520, p=0.002). No significant correlations were found between BMD and serum calcium or vitamin D (all p>0.05). These results underscore that while core bone density metrics interrelate, common biochemical measures may not directly reflect bone density in this cohort. We discuss implications for early screening, noting that bone turnover markers and risk-assessment tools are emerging as modern adjuncts in osteoporosis evaluation. The study highlights the importance of comprehensive assessment in premenopausal women at risk and suggests that targeted evaluation of vitamin D status and other risk factors is warranted even before menopause.
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