Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Nov 13;16(1):669.
doi: 10.1186/s13018-021-02821-8.

Global prevalence of osteoporosis among the world older adults: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis

Nader Salari  1 , Niloofar Darvishi  2 , Yalda Bartina  3 , Mojdeh Larti  2 , Aliakbar Kiaei  4 , Mahvan Hemmati  2 , Shamarina Shohaimi  5 , Masoud Mohammadi  6
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Global prevalence of osteoporosis among the world older adults: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis

Nader Salari et al. J Orthop Surg Res. .

Abstract

Background: Osteoporosis is one of the most common bone system diseases that is associated with an increased risk of bone fractures and causes many complications for patients. With age, the prevalence of this disease increases so that it has become a serious problem among the elders. In this study, the prevalence of osteoporosis among elders around the world is examined to gain an understanding of its prevalence pattern.

Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, articles that have focused on prevalence of osteoporosis in the world's elders were searched with these key words, such as Prevalence, Osteoporosis, Elders, Older adult in the Science Direct, Embase, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science (WoS) databases and Google Scholar search engine, and extracted without time limit until March 2020 and transferred to information management software (EndNote). Then, duplicate studies were eliminated and the remaining studies were evaluated in terms of screening, competence and qualitative evaluation based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data analysis was performed with Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software (Version 2) and Begg and Mazumdar test was used to check the publication bias and I2 test was used to check the heterogeneity.

Results: In a review of 40 studies (31 studies related to Asia, 5 studies related to Europe and 4 studies related to America) with a total sample size of 79,127 people, the prevalence of osteoporosis in the elders of the world; 21.7% (95% confidence interval: 18.8-25%) and the overall prevalence of osteoporosis in older men and women in the world, 35.3% (95% confidence interval: 27.9-43.4%), 12.5% (95% confidence interval: 9.3-16.7%) was reported. Also, the highest prevalence of osteoporosis in the elders was reported in Asia with; 24.3% (95% confidence interval: 20.9-28.1%).

Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that the prevalence of osteoporosis in the elders and especially elders' women is very high. Osteoporosis was once thought to be an inseparable part of elders' lives. Nowadays, Osteoporosis can be prevented due to significant scientific advances in its causes, diagnosis, and treatment. Regarding the growing number of elderly people in the world, it is necessary for health policy-makers to think of measures to prevent and treat osteoporosis among the elders.

Keywords: Elders; Meta-analysis; Osteoporosis; Prevalence; Systematic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The flowchart on the stages of including the studies in the systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA 2009)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Funnel Plot Results of the prevalence of osteoporosis in the world’s elders
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Prevalence of osteoporosis in the world’s elders and 95% confidence interval based on random effect model
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Prevalence of osteoporosis among elderly women worldwide and 95% confidence interval based on random effect model
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Prevalence of osteoporosis in the world’s elderly men and 95% confidence interval based on a random effect model
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Meta-regression chart of the prevalence of osteoporosis in the elders of the world by sample size
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Meta-regression chart of the prevalence of osteoporosis in the elders of the world by year of study
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Meta-regression graph of the prevalence of osteoporosis in the elders of the world by age of study participants
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Nielsen BR, Andersen HE, Haddock B, Hovind P, Schwarz P, Suetta C. Prevalence of muscle dysfunction concomitant with osteoporosis in a home-dwelling Danish population aged 65–93 years—the Copenhagen Sarcopenia Study. Exp Gerontol. 2020;138:110974. - PubMed
    1. Nabavi SH, Hatami ST, Norouzi F, Gerivani Z, Hatami SE, Monadi Ziarat H, Delbari A. Prevalence of fall and its related factors among older people in bojnurd in 2015. Iran J Ageing. 2016;11(3):466–473.
    1. Vaisi-Raygani A, Mohammadi M, Jalali R, Ghobadi A, Salari N. The prevalence of obesity in older adults in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Geriatr. 2019;19(1):1–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schuit A. Physical activity, body composition and healthy ageing. Sci Sports. 2006;21(4):209–213.
    1. Aliabadi K. Ghayoor M, Ilityfaizabadi: Prevalence of malnutrition and factors related to it in the elderly subjects in Khorasan Razavi province, Iran, 2006. Iran J Nutr Sci Food Technol. 2008;2(3):45.