Relationship Between Bone Mineral Density and Body Composition in Pre- and Post-menopausal Korean Women

Choi, Eun Young

Abstract

BACKGROUND
To investigate the relationship between body composition and bone mineral density (BMD) in preand post-menopausal women in Korea.
METHODS
The data of 4,334 pre- and post-menopausal women older than 20 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2008-2009 were assessed. BMD and body composition were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. All analyses except stepwise multiple linear regression analysis were performed using the KNHANES sample weights to account for the complex survey design.
RESULTS
After adjusting for confounding variables, lean mass and fat mass were positively correlated with BMD at both L1-4 spine and femur neck in both pre- and post-menopausal women (P<0.001). For the pre-menopausal women, lean mass was the most important determinant of BMD at both sites (R2=0.156 for L1-4 spine BMD, R2=0.168 for femur neck BMD), and the impact of fat mass were minimal. For the post-menopausal women, fat mass had a greater influence on the BMD at L1-4 spine than lean mass (R2=0.016 vs. R2=0.077), but lean mass had a greater impact than fat mass on the BMD at the femur neck (R2=0.077 vs. R2=0.007). After adjusting for confounding variables, post-menopausal osteoporosis increased as both lean mass and fat mass decreased (P(trend)<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
In Korean pre- and post-menopausal women, both lean mass and fat mass had positive correlations with the BMD at both sites and decreased the risk of osteoporosis. Lean mass had a greater influence on premenopausal BMD at both sites and postmenopausal BMD at the femur neck, whereas fat mass had greater influence on post-menopausal BMD at L1-4 spine.