Fatima Rehman, Sanum Ali.
A Meta Analysis on the Ethnic Differences in Bone Mineral Density on DEXA Scan in Pakistan.
J Liaquat Uni Med Health Sci Jan ;18(01):1-5.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of ethnic variations with the bone mineral density on Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan by using a database literature search. METHODOLOGY: This study was done at the department of Anatomy, Basic Medical Sciences Institute (BMSI), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) Karachi. A systemic literature search was carried out for the publications printed in between 2000-2017, dealing with the comparison of BMD on DEXA scan among various ethnicities of Pakistan. A total of 3 cross sectional studies, having 1232 subjects (n=421 males and n=811 females) enrolled, were found in the literature search and met the inclusion criteria. The BMD was assessed on DEXA by using Hologic model focused at the lumbar spine and neck of femur. RESULTS: Results were displayed as T scores and were statistically significant. Among 1232 subjects, 690 were Punjabi (56%), Osteopenia was found in 41.2% and osteoporosis in 25.8% (P-value=0.001), 198 (16%) were Pathan, among them 31.8% were osteopenic and 39.9% were osteoporotic (P-value=0.001). Sindhi were 78 (6.33%), 16.7% had osteopenia and 47.4% had osteoporosis (P-value= 0.001). 54 (4.38%) subjects were Balochi, among them 16.7% had osteopenia and 50.0% had osteoporosis (P-value= 0.001). Others ethnicities were 212 (17.20%), 40.6% were found to be osteopenic and 34.8% had osteoporosis (P -value= 0.001). CONCLUSION: Significant variations exist in the BMD scores among various ethnicities of Pakistan. Further research is highly suggested on larger scale based upon the ethnic and regional localization, as it directly influences and indicates a predictive relationship between low bone mass and increase risk of fracture.

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