Objective: We conducted this study to assess bone mineral density and to evaluate conceivable predictive factors for bone loss in patients with Crohn's disease.
Methods: One hundred-thirteen patients with Crohn's disease and 113 healthy subjects, individually matched for gender, age, and body weight were investigated. The group consisted of 68 women and 45 men. The median duration of Crohn's disease was 6 yr. Two-thirds of the patients had been subjected to intestinal resection. Seventy-seven percent had at some time been treated with corticosteroids. Bone mineral density in the lumbar spine, the hip, and the total body skeleton was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA).
Results: In patients with Crohn's disease bone mineral density was not different from that of healthy controls except for a regional decrease in bone mineral density of the hip in female patients. The strongest predictors of bone mineral density were gender, age, and body weight. Corticosteroid use was only a weak predictor of diminished bone density. Duration of disease and intestinal resection had no predictive value for bone mineral density.
Conclusions: Gender, age, and body weight are the major determinants of bone mineral density in patients with Crohn's disease. As in healthy individuals, the combined effect of these factors account for up to 50% of the variability in bone mineral density.