The Associations of Diabetes Mellitus and Obesity on Osteoporosis

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a common and debilitating condition that disproportionately affects older adults, particularly women, leading to increased fracture risk and reduced quality of life. While traditional risk factors such as age, hormonal changes, and lifestyle factors are well established, the impacts of diabetes and obesity on osteoporosis remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate associations between diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis diagnosis in Caucasian women aged 65 years and older. Data on osteoporosis diagnosis, diabetes diagnosis, and Body Mass Index (BMI) were obtained from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) online database, and statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS software. No significant association was found between diabetes and osteoporosis diagnoses at visit 1 ( p  = 0.966); however, a statistically significant association emerged at visit 8 ( p  < 0.001). A weak negative association was observed between the two conditions at visit 8 ( r  = –0.068, p  < 0.001), and participants with diabetes had approximately 41% lower odds of osteoporosis compared with those without diabetes. Higher BMI was associated with a lower prevalence of osteoporosis, while being underweight was associated with a higher prevalence. Significant differences in osteoporosis prevalence were observed between underweight individuals and those with severe obesity at the initial visit, and between healthy‐weight individuals and overweight or obese individuals at the later visit. Diabetes was not consistently associated with osteoporosis diagnosis across study visits. The results suggest that being overweight and obese is protective against osteoporosis in women.