Study on bone health in postmenopausal women at a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Objectives: 1) To find the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms after menopause. 2) To evaluate the densitometry findings in menopausal patients presenting with musculoskeletal symptoms. 3) To know the effect of duration of menopause on densitometry findings. Materials and Methods: This study is a prospective study conducted in the specialty outpatient department of Safdarjung hospital over a period of one year. 200 postmenopausal women with musculoskeletal symptoms during this period were included after fulfilling the inclusion criterion and were divided into two groups based on duration of menopause. Results: The musculoskeletal complaints were assessed as body ache, joint pain, numbness and tingling which were not statistically significantly different in two groups. 32 (29.9%) women who were more than 5 years post-menopausal (group B) were osteoporotic compared to 21 (22.6%) of women who were less than 5 years post-menopausal (group A). This data is not statistically significant. Conclusion: There is a need to improve awareness among the menopausal women and healthcare provider on menopausal symptoms and variety of intervention ranging from lifestyle modifications to pharmacological interventions. Keywords: Musculoskeletal Symptoms, Menopause, Osteoporosis, Osteopenia.