Objective:

For years, osteoporosis has been recognized as a disease affecting women. However, in recent years, it has been found that male osteoporosis is not as rare as it was thought to be, and fractures in men are an important public health problem. Therefore, we aimed to present the distribution of male osteoporosis patients according to their ages and diagnosis.

Methods:

We retrospectively reviewed the data of male osteoporosis patients who were admitted to physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics within a duration of one year. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) aging criteria, patients were divided into middle-aged (45–59 years), old (60–74 years), elderly (75–89 years), and senile (>90 year) groups. Male osteoporosis was classified as primary and secondary, and the history of fractures was divided as with or without fractures. Patients were analyzed according to these classifications and age groups.

Results:

Among the osteoporosis patients, 1,146 (88%) were females and 157 (12%) were males. The mean age of male osteoporosis patients (n=117) was 60.15±17.7 years. Twelve (10.3%) patients were with a history of fractures and 105 (89.7%) were without; 48 (41%) patients were classified as having primary osteoporosis, and the remaining 69 (59%) patients were classified as having secondary osteoporosis. In addition, there was no significant relationship between fracture history and advanced age and primary or secondary osteoporosis (p>0.05).

Conclusion:

Although osteoporosis is less common in males than in females, complications are not uncommon in male osteoporosis patients. Despite the high risk of osteoporotic fractures in males, these fractures were not associated with age or etiology. In addition, it was found that more than half of the men with osteoporosis have secondary risk factors; this highlights the importance of questioning these risk factors in male patients.

Keywords: Male osteoporosis, fracture, diagnosis, classification, age