Scientific Poster Session I - Original Research

Original Research
  Saturday, November 11, 2023
  11:30 AM–01:00 PM

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and osteoporosis are two chronic conditions impacting 37.3 million and 10 million American adults, respectively ^1,2. Adults with DM are at increased risk of fractures, despite DM individuals having higher bone mineral density (BMD) ^3,4. However, the relationship between adults specifically with poorly controlled DM and fracture risk is not abundantly defined in current literature.

Research Question or Hypothesis: How does poorly controlled DM contribute to fracture risk in osteoporosis patients?

Study Design: This cross-sectional study utilized data collected from the 2017-2018 National Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset.

Methods: Patients 50 years and older with a diagnosis of both DM and osteoporosis were included. For the exposure, poorly-controlled DM defined as A1C > 7.0% and fasting blood glucose (BG) > 130 mg/dL compared to controlled DM A1C = 7.0% and BG = 130 mg/dL⁵. The outcome was measured by the occurrence of hip or wrist fracture⁴. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted using SPSS. Chi-Square tests were used to obtain p-values for categorical data with values greater than five.

Results: The number of poorly-controlled DM and controlled DM patients were 46 and 66 respectively. Of the poorly controlled DM group, 30 (65.2%) patients experienced the outcome of hip or wrist fractures while only 35 (53.0%) patients of the controlled group experienced the outcome (p-value = 0.199). In patients with osteoporosis, poorly controlled DM participants were 68.7% more likely (OR = 1.687) to experience fractures compared to controlled DM, however these results were statistically insignificant (p-value = 0.317).

Conclusion: Our results suggest a statistically insignificant association between poorly-controlled diabetes and increased fracture outcomes. Additional studies with stronger causative design and larger sample size are needed to further examine whether poorly-controlled DM and fracture outcomes for those with osteoporosis are related.

Presenting Author

Thu Le PharmD. Candidate
University of Rhode Island

Authors

Aliaa Mohamed PharmD. Candidate
University of Rhode Island

Elisa Piraino PharmD. Candidate
University of Rhode Island

Elizabeth Shulman PharmD. Candidate
University of Rhode Island

Collin Smith PharmD. Candidate
University of Rhode Island