LAUSR

SummaryA systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted on the prevalence of osteoporosis in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The overall pooled prevalence of osteoporosis was 24.4%. The prevalence has increased significantly over the recent years. The highest pooled prevalence was in Saudi Arabia (32.7%), and the lowest was in Kuwait (15.1%).PurposeTo conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of osteoporosis in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), as defined by the World Health Organization.MethodsWe included all observational studies reporting the prevalence of osteoporosis among general population. We searched literatures from the databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Index Medicus for the EMR published between January 2000 and December 2017 with no restriction of language. Two reviewers independently contributed in study selection and data extraction. STATA software was used for analyzing the collected data.ResultsA total of 1692 citations were retrieved. After excluding the irrelevant articles, 36 eligible studies were included. The overall pooled prevalence rate of osteoporosis in the EMR on 31,593 participants was 24.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 20.4–28.4). Based on femoral densitometry, the prevalence of osteoporosis was 16.8% (95% CI, 9.5–24.2), and based on spinal densitometry, it was 24.3% (95% CI, 19.4–29.2). The pooled prevalence in males was 20.5% (95% CI, 10.5–30.5), compared with 24.4% (95% CI, 20.2–28.6) in females. The prevalence rate was significantly higher in 2007–2015 (32.7%; 95% CI, 25.1–40.3) than in 2000–2006 (19.8%; 95% CI, 12.5–27).ConclusionsOur findings indicate a considerable prevalence of osteoporosis among the people of the EMR. The prevalence has increased during recent years, showing that osteoporosis is becoming a critical health problem in this region. Prevention and control measures need to be implemented by health service authorities.