Association between serum vitamin D and femoral bone mineral density in active and inactive elderly women

Vitamin D deficiency is common among Iranian women and is a significant risk factor for osteoporosis and fractures. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum vitamin D and femoral bone mineral density (BMD) in active and inactive elderly women.

This study was was conducted on 410 70-85-year-old women with a mean age of 78 years, referred to Ayatollah Kashani Hospital in Tehran from 2019 to 2020. After the participants completed a questionnaire containing personal information, osteoporosis and physical activity, 45 active postmenopausal women and 45 inactive postmenopausal women were selected. Serum vitamin D index of women was used as an indicator of the effect on mineral density and osteoporosis. Pearson correlation coefficient was applied to find the relationship between vitamin D and femoral BMD. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.

According to the results, in both groups of active and inactive elderly women, there was a relationship between anthropometric indices and serum vitamin D levels with femoral BMD in active and inactive postmenopausal women (P≤0.05), but no significant relationship was found between height index in both groups (P≥0.05).

In general, the results showed that there was a significant relationship between BMD and serum vitamin D of all participants. Therefore, in adulthood and old age, this blood variable can be used to identify 70-85-year-old people at risk of osteoporosis.