Bone Mineral Density Patterns in Vitamin D Deficient African American Men With Sickle Cell Disease

ObjectiveTo describe bone mineral density (BMD) patterns by densitometry in adult African American (AA) men with sickle cell disease (SCD) who are vitamin D deficient (Vit DD). Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria: All SCD phenotypes were eligible. Those with chronic renal failure or hyperparathyroidism were excluded.Inclusion/Exclusion CriteriaAll SCD phenotypes were eligible. Those with chronic renal failure or hyperparathyroidism were excluded.Data CollectionDemographics, body mass index and SCD genotype.LaboratoryAlbumin, ferritin, calcium, phosphorus, 25-hydroxy vitamin D and intact–parathyroid hormone were obtained. BMD, T and Z scores: T scores at the lumbar spine were used to categorize normal, osteopenia and osteoporosis based on World Health organization criteria.Statistical AnalysesMean ± standard deviation was used to describe continuous data, whereas categorical data were described by counts and percentages. The χ² test was used to analyze categorical variables; Student's t test or one-way analysis of variance, when appropriate, was used to compare continuous variables. Rates of osteopenia-osteoporosis were determined, and the parameter with 95% confidence interval (CI) of a proportion was constructed. All tests were 2-sided, and a P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. We used StatView Version 5.01 (SAS institute Inc, Cary, NC) for the statistical analysis.ResultsSeventy-eight AA men with SCD disease and Vit DD were enrolled in this study. We found that 42% of the men studied had low-BMD (osteopenia or osteoporosis) using T scores at the lumbar spine to establish densitometry strata. The prevalence of osteoporosis was 14%.ConclusionsA large proportion of adult AA men with SCD and Vit DD showed low BMD.