Spinal curvatures and quality of life in women with vertebral fractures secondary to osteoporosis

Study Design. A prospective cross-sectional case-control study. Objectives. To compare spinal curvatures in women with osteoporosis and control subjects with a new instrument, the curviscope. Summary of Background Data. Few instruments are available for measuring spinal curvatures in the sagittal plane. Most of them have poor reproducibility, and they have been poorly investigated in osteoporosis. Methods. Ninety-eight postmenopausal women were evaluated. They were divided into two groups, according to their bone status: women with osteoporosis with at feast one vertebral fracture (n = 51) and control subjects (n = 47). Women with osteoporosis were divided into two subgroups, according to the delay since the last vertebral fracture had occurred (i.e., more or less than 3 months). Quality of life was assessed by using a generic instrument, the Nottingham Health Profile, in patients with osteoporosis only. Results. Reproducibility of the curviscope was satisfactory. For kyphosis measurements, the coefficients of variation were 2.8% and 2.4% in control subjects and women with osteoporosis, respectively. Kyphosis values were significantly higher in women with osteoporosis than in age-matched control subjects (63 degrees +/- 13 degrees vs. 52 degrees +/- 11 degrees, respectively; P < 0.005). Nottingham Health Profile scores were significantly different (P < 0.05) in women with osteoporosis with a recently diagnosed vertebral fracture, compared with other women with osteoporosis in two aspects, physical mobility and energy. Kyphosis measurements were significantly correlated with age in the whole group (r = 0.26; P < 0.05). In the Nottingham Health Profile, physical mobility was significantly correlated with kyphosis (r = 0.35; P < 0.05). Conclusions. The curviscope is a reliable tool, particularly useful in the assessment of osteoporosis. Moreover; kyphosis angles measured with the curviscope are markedly increased in women with osteoporosis, compared with control subjects. Finally, an increase of kyphosis angles is associated with decreased physical mobility.