Background: There is a controversy about the effect of diabetes mellitus on bone
mineral density. Objectives: To assess the frequency of osteoporosis in diabetic
elderly patients attending to diabetes outpatient clinic in the specialized medical
hospital at Mansoura University Hospital. Methods: Dual-energy X-ray
absorptiometry (DEXA) was used to assess the bone mineral density of the left
femur of 166 elderly patients who participated after performing the complete clinical
evaluation. Results: 31% of participants were osteopenic and 11% were
osteoporotic, as regard men 20.8% and 1.4 % were osteopenic and osteoporotic
respectively while 40.4% and 19.1% of women were osteopenic and osteoporotic
respectively. 13.3%, 5.9%, and 9.9% of women, men, and total participants
experienced a history of falls. Conclusion: The frequency of osteoporosis among the
study participants was 11% in total participants, there was no significant correlation
between type of diabetes treatment and osteoporosis.