ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Geriatric Medicine
Association between prealbumin levels and the risk of osteoporosis among individuals aged 50 and above in southwest China: A retrospective case-control study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Orthopedics, Xinqiao Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
- 2Unit 66397 of the People's Liberation Army, Beijing, China
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Background: Suboptimal nutritional status has been significantly correlated with the risk of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Low prealbumin levels are considered independent factors associated with decreased bone mineral density (BMD). However, most studies were conducted exclusively on postmenopausal women. Therefore, further investigations are warranted to determine the extent to which these findings can be extrapolated to the male and general population. Objective: To investigate the association between prealbumin levels and BMD among individuals aged 50 and above residing in southwestern China. Methods: A case-control study was conducted. A total of 534 individuals aged ≥ 50 years who underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scanning between 2018 and 2023 at the Second Affiliated Hospital of the Army Medical University were included in this study. Prealbumin levels; hemoglobin A1c levels; alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase levels; age; sex; body mass index; and lifestyle factors were recorded by reviewing medical records. We defined osteoporosis in individuals aged ≥ 50 years according to the World Health Organization criteria, which recommends a T score ≤ –2.5. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for osteoporosis, particularly the association between prealbumin levels and osteoporosis. Results: A total of 534 participants who met the inclusion criteria were recruited. Univariate analysis revealed statistically significant differences in age, body mass index, sex, type of current residence, physical activity, prealbumin, albumin, hemoglobin levels, and Hemoglobin A1c levels (P < 0.05). Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that Hemoglobin A1c (r = -0.287,
Keywords: Osteoporosis, bone mineral density, risk factor, Prealbumin, hemoglobin A1c, case-control
Received: 29 Aug 2025; Accepted: 03 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Cai, Tang, Zhang, Huang and Chu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tongwei Chu
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