Factors determining the presence of osteoporosis in active and former smokers

Introduction: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) has been associated with osteoporosis. Little is known about the potential role of radiological emphysema on the presence of osteoporosis. Objective: Our objective was to determine the putative role of emphysema in the presence of osteoporosisin active and former smokers. Methods: Data from 120 active and former smokers, followed at a Pulmonary Service from 2013 to 2015 were prospectively registered: age, sex, body mass index (BMI), pack-yearshistory, smoking status, spirometric diagnosis of COPD and the presence of emphysema (chest computed tomography- documented). Bone densitometry(BD) was performed on all patients, and classified according to WHO criteria as healthy, osteopeniaor osteoporotic. Results: The characteristics of patients with and without osteoporosisare described in Table 1. Patients with osteoporosiswere mainly women, with lower BMI, and higher percentage of them with radiological emphysema. Adjusted analyses showed that only the presence of emphysema (odds ratio [OR]: 4.49; 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.81-11.15, p<0.01) was independently associated with osteoporosisdiagnosis (Table 2). Conclusions: The present study confirmed the association of radiological emphysema with osteoporosisin a population of active and former smokers. Further studies should explore the potential mechanisms behind this association.