Prevalence and risk factors of low bone mineral density in spondyloarthritis and prevalence of vertebral fractures.

Our study found a high prevalence (around 50%) of low BMD in SpA. Conversely, the prevalence of osteoporosis (6.7% according to WHO criteria) and vertebral fractures (6.2%) was lower than generally reported in the literature. While lateral spine BMD measurement did little to improve the detection of osteopenia in women, the sample size was not large enough to enable us to draw definite conclusions.