Patients with osteoporosis are asymptomatic and are at risk for fractures. Therefore, early detection and interventions are important. We found that a population with a low socioeconomic status living in rural areas was reported to have a high osteoporosis prevalence but a relatively low diagnosis rate. Research on the disparity of osteoporosis prevalence and treatment from the socioeconomic perspective was conducted. This study aimed to investigate the influence of residence area and basic livelihood conditions on osteoporosis prevalence and diagnosis in postmenopausal women aged over 50 years. The cross-sectional data of 1477 postmenopausal women aged over 50 years obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V-2 were analyzed. Univariate analyses were performed to calculate the prevalence and diagnosis rate according to risk factor categories. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the influence of residence area and basic livelihood conditions after controlling for other factors. The osteoporosis prevalence in basic livelihood beneficiaries (53.7%) and rural area residents (41.9%) was higher than that in non-beneficiaries (33.1%) and urban area residents (31.8%). There was no significant difference in the diagnosis rates in relation to the basic livelihood conditions or residence areas. The adjusted odds ratio for the prevalence among the beneficiaries living in rural areas was 2.08 (95% confidence interval: 1.06-4.10). However, the odds ratio for diagnosis was not significantly different. Earlier screening examination policies for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women with a low socioeconomic status living in rural areas are needed.
Keywords: basic livelihood beneficiaries; health inequality; osteoporosis; residence area.