P129\u2003Predictors of low bone mineral density in rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

\n Background/Aims\u2002\n Osteoporosis (OP) is an extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that leads to increased fracture susceptibility due to a variety of reasons including immobility and cytokine driven bone loss. Bone loss in other populations has well documented risk factors. It is unknown whether bone loss in RA predominantly affects the femoral neck or the spine. This study aimed to identify independent predictors of low bone mineral density (BMD) in patients RA at the lumbar spine and the femoral neck.\n Methods\u2002\n This was a retrospective observational cohort study using patients with Rheumatoid arthritis attending for a regional dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary between 2004 and 2014. BMD in L1-L4 in the spine and in the femoral neck were recorded. The risk factors investigated were steroid use, family history of osteoporosis, smoking, alcohol abuse, BMI, gender, previous fragility fracture, number of FRAX(tm) risk factors and age. Univariate and Multivariate regression analysis models were fitted to explore bone loss at these sites using BMD in g/cm2 as a dependant variable. .\n Results\u2002\n 1,527 patients were included in the analysis, 1,207 (79%) were female. Mean age was 64.34 years (SD11.6). mean BMI was 27.32kg/cm2 (SD 5.570) 858 (56.2%) had some steroid exposure . 169(11.1%) had family history of osteoporosis. fragility fracture history found in 406 (26.6%). 621 (40.7%) were current or ex smokers . There was a median of 3 OP risk factors (IQR 1,3) The performance of the models is shown in table one below. Different risk factors appeared to influence the BMD at different sites and the cumulative risk factors influenced BMD in the spine. None of the traditional risk factors predicted poor bone loss well in this cohort. P129\u2003Table 1:result of the regression modelsCharacteristicB femoral neck95% CIpB spine95%CIpAge at scan-0.004-0.005,-0.003<0.01-0.0005-0.002,0.00050.292Sex-0.094-0.113,-0.075<0.01-0.101-0.129,-0.072<0.01BMI (mg/m2)0.0080.008,0.0101<0.010.01130.019,0.013<0.01Fragility fracture-0.024-0.055,0.0060.12-0.0138-0.060,0.0320.559Smoking0.007-0.022,0.0350.650.0286-0.015,0.0720.20Alcohol0.011-0.033,0.0 5560.620.0544-0.013,0.1120.11Family history of OP0.012-0.021,0.0450.470.0158-0.034,0.0650.53Number of risk factors-0.015-0.039,0.0080.21-0.039-0.075,-0.0030.03steroids0.004-0.023,0.0320.030.027-0.015,0.0690.21\n Conclusion\u2002\n This study has shown that predictors of low BMD in the spine and hip are different and less influential than expected in this cohort with RA . As the FRAX(tm) tool only uses the femoral neck, this might underestimate the fracture risk in this population. Further work looking at individual areas is ongoing.\n Disclosure\u2002\n M.A. Swar: None. M. Bukhari: None.