• Elizabeth A Lingard, Sheryl Y Mitchell, Roger M Francis, David Rawlings, Robert Peaston, Fraser N Birrell, and Andrew W McCaskie.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7DN, UK.
• Age Ageing. 2010 Mar 1; 39 (2): 234-9.

Backgroundthe presence of osteoporosis in patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) has important implications for understanding disease progression and providing optimal surgical and medical management.Objectiveto determine the prevalence of osteoporosis among patients with osteoarthritis awaiting total knee arthroplasty or total hip arthroplasty aged between 65 and 80 years.Designcross-sectional observational study.Settingtertiary referral centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.Subjectspatients with osteoarthritis awaiting total knee hip arthroplasty aged between 65 and 80 years.Methodslumbar spine, bilateral femoral and forearm bone mineral density (BMD) measurements were obtained using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.Resultsthe cohort consisted of 199 patients with a mean age of 72 years (SD 4), and 113 (57%) were women. The overall rate of osteoporosis at any site was 23% (46/199) and a further 43% (85/199) of patients would have been classified as osteopaenic according to World Health Organization criteria. Osteoporosis was more commonly detected in the forearm (14%) than the lumbar spine (8.5%) and proximal femur of the index side (8.2%).Conclusionsin summary, a significant proportion of patients with end-stage OA have osteoporosis but this diagnosis may be missed unless BMD measurements are performed at sites distant from joints affected by OA.

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