Prevalence and influencing factors of spinal cord injury-related osteoporosis and fragility fractures in Thai people with chronic spinal cord injury: A cross-sectional, observational study

Objective To investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of spinal cord injury (SCI)-related osteoporosis and fragility fractures in Thai people with chronic spinal cord injury. Design A cross-sectional, observational study. Setting Outpatient clinic, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital. Participants Thais with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) (duration of injury at least one year). Intervention Not applicable. Outcome measures Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was performed to measure bone mineral density (BMD) at the hip. Analyses were performed to identify risk factors for SCI-related osteoporosis or fragility fracture development. Thai FRAX (R) score was calculated with and without BMD and compared for each participant. Results Among 64 Thais with chronic SCI, the prevalence of SCI-related osteoporosis was 43.8%. Female sex, non-ambulatory status, and at least 10 years duration of spinal cord injury increased the risk of having SCI-related osteoporosis. The prevalence of fragility fracture was 9.4%. Female sex, duration of SCI, and being diagnosed with SCI-related osteoporosis increased the risk of having a fragility fracture. Thai FRAX (R) score without BMD value underestimated the risk of prevalent fracture in 7.8% of participants. Conclusions SCI-related osteoporosis and fragility fractures are common in Thais with chronic SCI. Our findings emphasize the importance of SCI-related osteoporosis and fragility fracture surveillance in people with chronic SCI regardless of their ethnicity. FRAX (R) without BMD calculations could underestimate the risk of fragility fracture in people with chronic SCI. Therefore, further studies are needed to develop an SCI-specific fracture-risk assessment tool using risk factors proposed in previous studies and in this study.

Automated summary

This study investigated the prevalence and influencing factors of spinal cord injury (SCI)-related osteoporosis and fragility fractures in Thai people with chronic SCI. The results showed that SCI-related osteoporosis and fragility fractures are common in Thais with chronic SCI, with female gender and longer duration of SCI increasing the risk of these conditions.