Association Between Bone Mineral Density and Colorectal Adenomas: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Epidemiologic studies suggest that lower bone mineral density (BMD) is associated with an increased risk for colorectal adenoma/cancer, especially in postmenopausal women. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between osteopenia and/or osteoporosis and colorectal adenomas in patients from a New York community hospital. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional observational study on 200 patients who underwent screening colonoscopies and bone density scan (dual-energy, X-ray absorptiometry) at Nassau University Medical Center from November 2009 to March. Among these, 83 patients were identified as osteoporosis (T score of −2.5 or below) and 67 were osteopenia (T score between −1.0 and −2.5). Logistic regression model was performed to assess the association between osteopenia and/or osteoporosis and colorectal adenomas. Results: Among the patients with osteopenia and osteoporosis, the mean age were 59.1 years (standard deviation [SD] 8.9) and 61.5 (SD 8.9), respectively. There were 94.0%, 85.1%, and 74.7% women respectively in normal BMD, osteopenia, and osteoporosis group. The prevalences of colorectal adenomas were 17.9% and 25.3% in osteopenia and osteoporosis group, respectively, and 18.0% in the normal BMD group. After adjustment for potential confounders including age, sex, race, BMI, tobacco use, alcohol use, history of diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia, osteoporosis was found to be associated with presence of colorectal adenomas more than 2, compared to the normal BMD group. No significant associations were found for the prevalence, size, and location of adenomas. Conclusion: Our study suggests that osteoporosis is significantly associated with the presence of multiple colorectal adenomas. Prospective studies with a larger sample size are warranted in the future.Table 1Table 2