RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEPRESSION AND OSTEOPOROSIS IN WOMEN

Depression probably causes changes in bone metabolism and induces bone loss
and osteoporosis. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between depression and
osteoporosis in women.
Materials & Methods: In this descriptive-cross sectional study, 190 women above 40 eligible for the
study were recruited and their level of depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory
Short Form 13, then bone density was measured by DEXA (Dual Energy Xray Absorptiometry)
technique. Then after a physician’s diagnosis and according to WHO criteria, the participants were
divided into three groups: normal, osteopenia, osteoporosis then SPSS version 17 and statistical
analysis tests were used for data analysis.
Results: The findings showed that mean ± SD age and body mass index of the participants were,
56.64±7.82 year and 29.9±4.88 m2.kg, the majority of the participants were homemakers (70.5%),
most of them had enough income (81.6%), 46.8% of the participants were depressed, 42.3% of women
were with severe depression, 36.7% of them with moderate depression, 39.4% of women with mild
depression, 27.7% of women were not depressed but were diagnosed with osteoporosis. In this study,
significant correlation between bone mineral density and depression was not found (p= 0.32).
Conclusion: This study showed that depression was not associated with osteoporosis in women