Osteoporosis--a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases: a follow-up study.

Introduction: Cardiovascular (CV) diseases and bone fractures due to osteoporosis are the leading causes of death in the elderly.

Objective: The aim of this study was to demonstrate a correlation between the overall risk for CV events, and low bone density in postmenopausal women, and its impact on the incidence of serious CV events.

Methods: Our prospective study involved 300 postmenopausal women. All the examinees were divided into three groups based on their measured bone density: Group I--84 examinees with osteoporosis; Group II--115 examinees with osteopenia; and Group III--101 examinees with normal bone density. In all examinees the overall ten-year risk for a fatal CV event was calculated using the SCORE system tables.

Results: After a 36-month follow-up, CV events occurred in 19 (6.3%) examinees. Significant differences in the incidence of CV events were demonstrated between the patients with osteoporosis, osteopenia, and normal bone density (χ2 = 28.7; p < 0.001), as well as between those with a high and low CV risk (χ2 = 22.6; p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking (OR: 2.23; 95% CI: 1.02 to 6.19; p = 0.035), and increase of overall CV score (OR: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.17 to 1.58; p < 0.001) are associated with increased CV event risk, while the increase of T score value is associated with decreased risk of CV event (OR: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.73; p = 0.002).

Conclusion: Measurement of bone density with a standard assessment of the total CV risk could be useful for selecting women who need intensive prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.