Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk for osteoporosis, which has implications for mobility and even mortality. The goal of this pilot study was to evaluate bone mineral density (BMD) and risk factors for osteoporosis in a limited number of men with COPD.

We checked BMD, FEV₁(% of predicted) and investigated risk factors for osteoporosis in 44 male patients with COPD who visited our hospital from January to August 2002.

Mean(±) age was 69±9 yrs, body mass index(BMI) 21± 3 kg/m², FEV₁ 50± 18% of predicted, lumbar spine T-score -3.0± 1.2, lumbar spine Z-score -2.0±1.2, and lumbar spine BMD 0.76 ±0.13 g/cm². Osteoporosis(T-score below -2.5) was present in 27 patients(61.4%) and osteopenia(T-scorebetween -1 and -2.5) in 17(38.6%). None of the patients had normal BMD. There was no relationshipbetween BMD and FEV₁(% of predicted). There were significant differences in smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, cumulative steroid dose, BMI and BMD among the three groups according to FEV₁(% of predicted) (group1 : ≥65%, group2 : 50-64%, group3 : ≤49%), except age. However, there were no significant differences in these variables between the osteopenia and osteoporosis groups, except BMI. Linear Regression(Stepwise) analysis showed that lumbar BMD was correlated with BMI