Health-related quality of life measurements in elderly Canadians with osteoporosis compared to other chronic medical conditions: a population-based study from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos)

The objective of this research was to determine the relative decrement in health-related quality of life, as measured by the health utilities index mark 3 (HUI3), in osteoporosis compared to other chronic medical conditions. The impact of chronic medical conditions other than osteoporosis on HUI3 measurements had been previously established in the 1996/1997 Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS). The Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos) is a national population-based study in which regional participants were randomly recruited, regardless of presence of osteoporosis. We analyzed data from participants aged ≥65 years who completed a baseline HUI3 questionnaire and provided information on their medical history (n=3,750). We determined the age- and gender-adjusted mean decrement in HUI3 for several chronic medical conditions, including osteoporosis. The mean changes in HUI3 adjusted for age and gender (with 95% confidence intervals) were as follows: arthritis −0.10 (−0.11, −0.09), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) −0.07 (−0.09, -0.05), diabetes mellitus −0.05 (−0.08, −0.03), heart disease −0.06 (-0.08, −0.04), hypertension −0.02 (-0.03, −0.01), and osteoporosis −0.08 (−0.11, −0.06), respectively (model r²=0.17; P<0.0001). These findings were comparable to those observed in the NPHS, with the exception of osteoporosis, which had not been previously studied in this fashion. The decrement in HUI3 score seen in participants with osteoporosis was comparable to that observed in other chronic medical conditions, such as arthritis, COPD, diabetes mellitus or heart disease.