Prevalence of Osteopenia and Osteoporosis among Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Complications of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) lead to low bone mass and osteoporosis. Objective: To review the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis among CKD patients. Methods: Potential studies were identified through a systematic search of recognized databases using keywords “prevalence,” “osteopenia,” “osteoporosis,” “Chronic Kidney Disease,” “CKD patients,” “Chronic Renal Failure,” “CRF patients,” “Bone Mineral Density,” and “low bone mass” to identify relevant articles. An article was included in the review if the study met the following criteria: 1) conducted in CKD patients aged 18 years and above, 2) Osteopenia and osteoporosis were determined through Bone Mineral Density (BMD) testing, and 3) T scores were determined for all patients. The studies including transplant patients were not included in this review. Results: A total of 2142 titles were retrieved and of these 8 studies, based on the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis in CKD patients were included in the final review. The review found that the prevalence of osteopenia reported in the studies was between 33.3% and 81% with an average of 45.91% and the prevalence of osteoporosis was between 2.24% and 31.3% with an average of 23.29%. Higher prevalence rates were observed among female gender and CKD patients with low Body Mass Index. Lumbar spine (LS) was found to be the most vulnerable site for osteoporosis among the majority of the studies. Conclusion: The review found a high prevalence rate of osteopenia and osteoporosis among CKD patients. The review further identified that BMD testing at the LS site is more reliable and suitable to determine the risk of fracture and osteoporosis.