Research on Osteoporosis in the Elderly of Taichung County
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Date of Award
1998
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Format
Abstract
The purpose of the research was to measure the prevalence of osteoporosis in the elderly in Taichung County, Taiwan and to find if a relationship between various factors and osteoporosis exists.
The sample included 900 elderly (age > 64.5 years). The sample was selected by random sampling from about 90,000 old people in the Taichung County population. The sample was measured for bone quality (Broadband Ultrasonic Attenuation) and various personal and environmental factors (Questionnaire).
The result for osteoporosis prevalence was 34.14% for men and 60.34% for women. The difference between the men and women was statistically significant. The significant risk factors for men was found to be the body-mass-index, and for women to be age, body-mass-index, and gout.
The cross sectional research approach revealed that many important risk factors did not have an influence. While the disease ‘osteoporosis’ often occurs in older people, the causal factors have existed since an earlier age.