Factors influencing the quality of life of post-menopausal patients with acute osteoporotic vertebral body fractures

Objective To investigate the quality of life (QOL) and its influencing factors in postmenopausal patients with an acute osteoporotic vertebral body fracture.Methods Seventy-six patients aged 54 to 86 years (mean age 69.32 years) with acute osteoporotic vertebral body fracture were recruited and investigated by use of a multi-mode follow-up system from June 2011 to December 2012.The general information of all the patients,such as age,the amount of daily exercise,history of anti-osteoporosis,vertebral fracture level,type of fracture and grade of fracture deformation,was recorded.The mini-Osteoporosis Quality of Life Questionnaire (mini-OQLQ) was used to measure the QOL of the patients at 4 weeks after the onset of fracture.Results The average score of QOL of the patients after an acute osteoporotic vertebral body fracture was significantly lower than that of before fracture (32.16 ± 10.98 vs 51.22 ± 15.02,P ＜ 0.01).The influencing factors of the QOL in these patients as indicated by multiple regression model were the grade of vertebral fracture deformation,type of fracture,history of osteoporotic fracture,duration of menopause and age,which were negatively correlated with the score of QOL of the patients; on the contrary,the amount of daily exercise and history of anti-osteoporosis were positively associated with the QOL score of the patients.The scores of all the five domains of the patients' QOL were decreased significantly after fracture (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions The severity of vertebral fracture deformation,the type of fracture and aging were negatively correlated with QOL in patients with an acute osteoporotic vertebral body fracture,while the amount of daily exercise and history of anti-osteoporosis play positive roles for QOL of these patients. Key words: Osteoporosis;  Vertebral body fracture;  Postmenopausal;  Quality of life;  Influencing factors