The relationship between osteoporosis and body composition in pre- and postmenopausal women from different ethnic groups in China

Objective: To investigate the ethnic differences in osteoporosis (OP) and body composition (BC) and their relationship in the Maonan, Mulam, Hmong, and Yao minorities in China.

Design: A total of 860 Maonan, Mulam, Hmong, and Yao women were included in this cross-sectional study. Demographic, health history, and lifestyle information was collected using questionnaires. BC was measured through bioelectrical impedance analysis, and bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed via calcaneal quantitative ultrasound.

Results: Compared with premenopausal women, postmenopausal women exhibited a lower fat-free mass (FFM), muscle mass (MM), limb muscle mass, and T-score but a higher waist-to-hip ratio and prevalence of OP in each minority (p?T-scores and lowest prevalence of OP among the four minorities (p?p??1). In addition, our results revealed that FFM and MM exhibited exactly the same weak positive relationship with the T-score (r?=?0.081, p?T-score existed in the four minorities studied here.

Conclusions: BC and OP prevalence varied by menopausal status and ethnic group, and ethnic-specific relationships between BC and BMD were present in the four minorities. More research is needed to further investigate the ethnic differences in BC, OP, and risk factors for lower BMD to develop targeted prevention strategies to reduce the burden of OP across different ethnic groups in China.