Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40938377›Full record

ArticleOsteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA2025

Height loss, back pain and severe pain are highly predictive of pregnancy associated osteoporosis.

Elizabeth Orhadje, Kathryn Berg, Karen Whitehead, Barbara Hauser, Stuart H Ralston

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Height loss, back pain and severe pain are highly predictive of pregnancy associated osteoporosis: response to letter by Li and Zhang.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Elizabeth OrhadjeCentre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK.
Kathryn BergCentre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK.
Karen WhiteheadPregnancy Associated Osteoporosis UK, Somerset, UK.
Barbara HauserCentre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK.
Stuart H RalstonCentre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK. stuart.ralston@ed.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2804-7586

Funding

Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research KENN 20 21 08Royal Osteoporosis Society 461
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The diagnosis of pregnancy associated osteoporosis (PAO) is often delayed. We evaluated clinical predictors of PAO in 225 cases and 174 controls and found that the combination of height loss, back pain and severe pain was highly predictive of PAO, with a sensitivity and specificity close to 100%.

objectivesTo identify clinical predictors of pregnancy associated osteoporosis.

methodsWe conducted an online survey of 225 women with a self-reported diagnosis of pregnancy associated osteoporosis (cases) and gathered details of their medical history, demographic characteristics and symptoms. Their responses were compared with those from a group of 174 controls who had pregnancies around the same time as the affected individuals. Using this information, we constructed a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to identify features that best discriminated between cases and controls.

resultsThe mean ± SD age was 33.1 ± 4.9 for cases vs. 32.1 ± 4.2 years for controls. Thromboembolic disease, anticoagulant use and a family history of osteoporosis were more frequent in cases, whereas hypertension and pre-eclampsia/eclampsia were more frequent in controls. Severe pain was reported in 186 (84.2%) cases vs. 3 (1.8%) controls, height loss in 112 (49.8%) vs. 1 (0.6%) and back pain in 200 (88.9%) vs. 77 (44.3%) (p < 0.001 for all features). Severe pain had high sensitivity, 84.2% [95% CI, 78.5 to 88.6%], and specificity, 98.2% [94.6 to 99.5%], for PAO. Back pain, height loss and severe pain were highly predictive of PAO in ROC analysis, with an area under the curve [95% CI] of 0.988 [0.980 to 0.997].

conclusionsHeight loss, back pain and severity of pain are highly predictive of PAO. Height should be measured at the beginning and end of pregnancy, and pain location and severity assessed to help prioritise women likely to have PAO for skeletal imaging to confirm the diagnosis and commence treatment.

Indexed as

Back PainBody HeightOsteoporosisPregnancy ComplicationsAdultCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansPregnancyYoung AdultOsteoporosisPregnancy associated osteoporosisVertebral fracture

Identifiers

PMID40938377

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.