(HealthDay News) — The prevalence of osteoporosis and low bone density has been examined among adults aged 65 years and older. The findings were published online by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Anne C. Looker, Ph.D., and Steven M. Frenk, Ph.D., from the NCHS, used data from the 2005 to 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys to examine the prevalence of osteoporosis and low bone mass at the femur neck or lumbar spine among U.S. adults aged 65 years and older.
The researchers found that 16.2% of adults had osteoporosis, with age-adjusted prevalence being 24.8 and 5.6% among women and men, respectively. The unadjusted prevalence was 25.7 and 12.8% among those aged 80 years and older and those aged 65 to 79 years, respectively. The unadjusted prevalence of osteoporosis was 24.9, 15.7, and 10.3% among Mexican-Americans, non-Hispanic whites, and non-Hispanic blacks, respectively. Low bone mass was seen in 48.3% of adults aged 65 years or older, with higher prevalence seen among women versus men (52.3 versus 44.0%). Prevalence was higher in adults aged 80 years or older versus those aged 65 to 79 years (52.7 versus 46.7%).
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“Recent estimates of the prevalence of osteoporosis and low bone mass at the femur neck or lumbar spine in U.S. adults focused on adults aged 50 and over,” the authors write. “There is also interest in the prevalence of osteoporosis among adults aged 65 and over because most adults in this group are eligible for Medicare coverage.”
