Abstract

In females of the South Asia region, vitamin D deficiency has been highly prevalent. This can be due to non-access to sunlight, sunblock, home-stay, and poor dietary intake, Insufficient intake of vitamin D and calcium can lead to bone loss, especially in postmenopausal females. Aim: The present study aimed to comparatively assess the bone mineral density and vitamin D levels in premenopausal and postmenopausal females of India. Methods: The study assessed 200 premenopausal females constituting the controls and 200 postmenopausal females constituting the test group. In all 400 subjects, vitamin D levels were assessed to note vitamin D deficiency. This was followed by scanning (DEXA scan) for bone mineral density. The data gathered was statistically assessed to get results. Results: Moderate deficiency of Vitamin D was higher in a post-menopause group with 43% (n=86) females and had a lower incidence in the pre-menopausal control group with 15% (n=30) females with moderate deficiency of vitamin D. For the severe deficiency, it had a high incidence in post-menopausal females with 36% (n=72) females and a low incidence of severe vitamin D deficiency was seen in the pre-menopausal control group with 2% (n=4) females. In premenopausal females, low bone mineral density was seen in 34% (n=68) of study subjects and was very low in 1% (n=2) females. In the study group of post-menopausal females, the bone mineral density was low in 62% (n=124) of the study subjects and was very low in 24% (n=48) of the study subjects. For BMD and 25 OHD levels, the difference in the two groups was statistically significant with p<0.001. Conclusion: The present study shows the effect of menopause on bone mineral density and vitamin D levels. There is a significant difference in bone mineral density and levels of vitamin D in postmenopausal females and females of reproductive age.

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