Key Statistics for the Middle East and Africa

  • Prevalence of low bone mass is higher in the Middle East than in western countries [1]Maalouf, G., et al., Middle East and North Africa consensus on osteoporosis. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact, 2007. 7(2): p. 131-43.

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  • Despite ample sunshine, the Middle East and Africa register the highest rates of rickets worldwide. Hypovitaminosis D is highly prevalent in the Middle Eastern and African region and could be a contributing factor to osteoporosis [2]Sweileh, W.M., et al., Osteoporosis is a neglected health priority in Arab World: a comparative bibliometric analysis. Springerplus, 2014. 3: p. 427.

    [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    . 
  • Mortality rates post-hip fracture may be higher in this region than those reported from western populations. While such rates vary between 25-30% in western populations, they are 2-3 fold higher in populations from the Middle East and Africa region [4]Baddoura, R., M. Hoteit, and G. El-Hajj Fuleihan, Osteoporotic fractures, DXA, and fracture risk assessment: meeting future challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. J Clin Densitom, 2011. 14(4): p. 384-94.

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  • There are extremely limited numbers of DXA machines available in this region. In Morocco, there are only 0.6 DXA machines per 1 million people [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .
  • Calculations show that 53.9% of postmenopausal women have osteopenia while 28.4% have osteoporosis. 21.9% of males aged 20-89 have osteoporosis [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .
  • With 50,000 hip fractures in 2010, Iran accounted for 0.85% of the global burden of hip fracture and 12.4% of the burden of hip fracture in the Middle East [5]Ahmadi-Abhari, S., A. Moayyeri, and F. Abolhassani, Burden of hip fracture in Iran. Calcif Tissue Int, 2007. 80(3): p. 147-53.

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  • Currently, it is estimated that there are 1008 hip fractures per year in Jordan, however, based on the First Jordanian Hip Fracture Survey (2008) it is predicted that this number will quadruple by 2050 [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .
  • Hip fractures occur at a younger age in Lebanon compared to Western populations, and 60% of patients with hip fractures have osteopenia rather than osteoporosis [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .
  • In 2010, it was estimated that over 2 million Moroccans had osteopenia (about 39% of the population over 50) and almost 1 million had osteoporosis [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .
  • A 2009 study of 458 children revealed that 68.8% were vitamin D deficient. The deficiency was most pronounced in the age group 11-16 years [6]Bener, A., M. Al-Ali, and G. F Hoffmann, High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in young children in a highly sunny humid country: A global health problem. Vol. 61. 2009. 15-22.

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  • In 2008, the prevalence of osteoporosis for Saudi Arabian women aged 50-70 years was estimated to be approximately 23% [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .
  • In 2017 it was estimated that with a population of about 1.3 million persons aged 55 years or more, 8768 would suffer femoral fractures yearly at a cost of SR564.75 million (150.60 million USD) [7]Sadat-Ali, M., et al., Reassessment of osteoporosis-related femoral fractures and economic burden in Saudi Arabia. Arch Osteoporos, 2015. 10: p. 37.

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  • By extrapolation, it was estimated that around 1.4 million females aged over 50 and 600,000 males aged over 50 are suffering from osteoporosis [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .
  • It is estimated that there are about 15,000 vertebral fractures each year of which only 20% are treated by a doctor [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .
  • In a 2006 study of the prevalence of osteoporosis, one out of four postmenopausal Tunisian women studied had a T-score below 2.5 (the WHO threshold for osteoporosis) [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .
  • Data on the incidence of hip fracture was established in the national HIFIT study of 2002 (Hip Incidence Fracture in Tunisia) and estimated 213.5 fractures per 100 000 per year [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .
  • In 2009, the prevalence of osteoporosis at the femoral neck in men and women, respectively, aged 50 or more was estimated at 7.5% and 33.3%. The remaining lifetime risk of a hip fracture was found to be of 3.5% for men and 14.6% for women. Approximately 24,000 hip fractures were estimated in men and women aged 50 years and over, 73% of which occurred in women. 64,000 hip fractures are projected for 2035 [8]Tuzun, S., et al., Incidence of hip fracture and prevalence of osteoporosis in Turkey: the FRACTURK study. Osteoporos Int, 2012. 23(3): p. 949-55.

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  • 90% of hip fractures are surgically treated and the average number of bed days is 14 days per fracture. Although there is no national hip fracture registry available, using data collected from a major hospital in Abu Dhabi it was estimated that there are 2.25 osteoporosis hip fractures per 1000 population per year [3]International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011;

    See Link    .

REFERENCES

1.
Maalouf, G., et al., Middle East and North Africa consensus on osteoporosis. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact, 2007. 7(2): p. 131-43.
2.
Sweileh, W.M., et al., Osteoporosis is a neglected health priority in Arab World: a comparative bibliometric analysis. Springerplus, 2014. 3: p. 427.
3.
International Osteoporosis Foundation: The Middle East & Africa Regional Audit - Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2011. 2011; See Link
4.
Baddoura, R., M. Hoteit, and G. El-Hajj Fuleihan, Osteoporotic fractures, DXA, and fracture risk assessment: meeting future challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. J Clin Densitom, 2011. 14(4): p. 384-94.
5.
Ahmadi-Abhari, S., A. Moayyeri, and F. Abolhassani, Burden of hip fracture in Iran. Calcif Tissue Int, 2007. 80(3): p. 147-53.
6.
Bener, A., M. Al-Ali, and G. F Hoffmann, High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in young children in a highly sunny humid country: A global health problem. Vol. 61. 2009. 15-22.
7.
Sadat-Ali, M., et al., Reassessment of osteoporosis-related femoral fractures and economic burden in Saudi Arabia. Arch Osteoporos, 2015. 10: p. 37.
8.
Tuzun, S., et al., Incidence of hip fracture and prevalence of osteoporosis in Turkey: the FRACTURK study. Osteoporos Int, 2012. 23(3): p. 949-55.