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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2025; 35(01): 002-009
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1787683
Original Article

Prevalence of Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia in Middle-Aged Subjects with Low Back Pain

Shamrendra Narayan 
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Rishabh Pratap
2   Department of Neurology, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Gaurav Raj 
3   Department of General Medicine, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Abhishek Chauhan
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Tushant Kumar
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Neha Singh 
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Ajai Kumar Singh
2   Department of Neurology, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
,
Nikhil Gupta
3   Department of General Medicine, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
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Abstract

Objective The genesis of both osteoporosis and sarcopenia is multifactorial, complicated, and interrelated. The present study has been undertaken to analyze the prevalence of low bone mineral density (BMD) and the pattern of imaging markers of sarcopenia (paraspinal skeletal muscle area [SMA] and skeletal muscle index [SMI] with respect to clinicodemographic profile in middle-aged patients (30–45 years) undergoing evaluation for low back pain (LBP).

Materials and Methods Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbosacral spine and/or sacroiliac joints was done on 3T MRI. BMD of the lumbar spine (L1 to L4) was assessed using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan. SMA was calculated by measuring the cross-sectional area of paraspinal muscles (bilateral psoas, erector spinae, and multifidus), and SMI was calculated by dividing SMA by height2.

Results The prevalence of osteoporosis was 12.1% in patients of age 30 to 45 years presenting with LBP. Both osteoporosis and paraspinal muscle mass were statistically associated with the duration of symptoms (p-value <0.05). No statistically significant difference was observed in different MRI findings, that is, normal, inflammatory, infective, and degenerative etiology.

Conclusion Low BMD and loss of muscle mass in cases with LBP are more related to duration of disease rather than etiology or gender in middle-aged subjects. Early intervention to manage LBP may prevent progression to osteoporosis and sarcopenia in young adults.

Keywords

low back pain - bone mineral density - osteoporosis - sarcopenia - skeletal muscle area - skeletal muscle index

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.


Patient Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.




Publication History

Article published online:
17 July 2024

© 2024. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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