Height loss could predict pregnancy bone condition
Measuring height at the beginning and end of a person’s pregnancy could help to diagnose a rare, painful bone condition, a study shows.
Researchers found that height loss, as well as back pain and severity of pain, were highly predictive of pregnancy associated osteoporosis (PAO), which can lead to fractures in the spine.
Taking these simple measurements during pregnancy could help to identify those at risk of the condition and prioritise scans to confirm diagnosis, experts say.
Bone strength
Osteoporosis is a condition where the bones lose strength, making them more likely to break. This normally happens with age but can develop during pregnancy in rare cases.
Diagnosis of the condition is often delayed, with symptoms like back pain commonly dismissed as a normal side effect of pregnancy, experts say.
Researchers conducted an online survey of 225 women with a self-reported diagnosis of PAO and compared them with 174 women without the condition who had pregnancies at a similar time.
Health history
Only a small proportion of those with PAO had pre-existing diseases associated with osteoporosis. This ties with people’s experience of the condition, where affected individuals often feel that they have unexpectedly developed the condition.
Having a family history of osteoporosis was significantly more common in PAO cases, researchers found.
Clear symptoms
Severe pain – enough to interfere with daily activities – was the strongest factor predicting PAO, reported in 84 per cent of those with the condition compared with 2 per cent of those without.
Back pain was reported by nearly 90 per cent of pregnant people with PAO, compared with 44 per cent of those without the condition.
Half of those with PAO reported height loss, compared with less than 1 per cent of those without, making it an important measure to distinguish between typical pregnancy back pain and possible PAO.
The diagnosis of pregnancy associated osteoporosis is often delayed. This study is really important since it shows that if a woman experiences height loss, back pain and severe pain at the end of pregnancy or during breastfeeding the diagnosis of pregnancy associated osteoporosis is virtually certain. This simple checklist will allow patients affected by the condition to be identified quickly so that further tests can be initiated and treatment started.
Professor Stuart Ralston
Study lead from the University of Edinburgh’s Institute of Genetics and Cancer
Simple measurements
The findings offer a straightforward and inexpensive route to aid diagnosis of the condition during routine clinical visits, experts say.
The study, funded by the Royal Osteoporosis Society and the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research, included experts from charity Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis UK and the Western General Hospital, NHS Lothian.
This landmark study shines a vital light on pregnancy associated osteoporosis – a condition that has long been under recognised and underdiagnosed. The Royal Osteoporosis Society is proud to have funded research that identifies a simple combination of symptoms – height loss, back pain, and severe pain – as highly predictive of this debilitating condition. These findings offer a practical and immediate way for clinicians to identify women at risk and ensure they receive timely diagnosis and treatment. For too long, women have suffered in silence, dismissed as experiencing ‘normal pregnancy pain’. This research is a powerful step toward changing that narrative and making a difference to maternal health.
Ruth Wakeman
Director of Services, Influencing and Innovation at the Royal Osteoporosis Society
We are delighted that our funding for the MB PhD programme at the University of Edinburgh has supported this important research which will offer quicker and simpler diagnosis of patients with pregnancy related osteoporosis.
Dr Stephen Simpson
CEO of the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research
