Aim:

To determine the prevalence of osteoporosis in postmenopausal Costa Rican women treated at the San Juan de Dios Hospital of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund, and relate it to clinical and lifestyle characteristics.

Methods.

Transversal study. A total of 923 bone densitometry studies of postmenopausal women aged between 45 and 80 years were analyzed; A T-score value obtained by bone densitometry was recorded for the lumbar spine and hip; variables such as age, bodymass index, smoking, and other recognized risk factors were documented; the prevalence was estimated and the relationship with the factors was analyzed.

Results.

From 923 studies and risk factors commonly associated with the disease, the following were statistically significant: age (p<0.001), age at menarche (p = 0.001), number of years since menopause (p<0.001) and family history of hip fracture (p = 0.01). Other factors were not significant.

Conclusions.

For the population studied, a prevalence of 47% for osteopenia and 39% for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women was demonstrated. It was not possible to establish a relationship in lifestyle variables, such as smoking, alcoholism, physical activity and dairy consumption. Other investigations with greater control over these variables should be carried out to know their risk related to the disease.