Impact of osteoporosis and bone fracture on health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women

Background Osteoporosis is responsible for fragility fractures, which are associated with decreased physical and social function. The GINERISK study was a cross-sectional epidemiological study conducted in 4157 Spanish postmenopausal women initially diagnosed with osteoporosis according to WHO criteria within the last 2 years. Aim The aim of the study was to explore the impact of osteoporosis on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Method Menopause-specific and generic HRQoL were assessed, respectively, with the specific Cervantes Scale and the generic SF-12v2 Health Survey. The impact of osteoporosis on HRQoL was ultimately evaluated in 3328 (80.1%) women who had measurements for both bone mineral densitometry (BMD) and HRQoL. Results Menopause-specific or generic HRQoL, respectively, were worse in women with current osteoporosis and prior osteoporotic bone fracture (BF) in comparison with current osteoporosis without BF or whose T-score had increased above -2.5 on the BMD after receiving osteoporosis drug therapy. Impaired HRQoL was found both in Spanish postmenopausal female populations and the Spanish general female population. Women with osteoporosis with BF had physical and mental summary component scores in the 20th and 30th percentiles, respectively, of the Spanish general population. Higher risk for cardiovascular death was also associated with greater HRQoL impairment. The use of selective estrogen receptor modulators in women with a BMD T-score <= -2.5 was associated with lower impact of osteoporosis on HRQoL, particularly in the domains of physical health and sexuality. Conclusion The HRQoL analysis results in this study demonstrated a loss of quality of life in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and confirmed that this loss is greater in women with prior osteoporotic fracture.