Antiretroviral therapy and the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis: a meta-analytic review

Prevalence estimates of osteopenia and osteoporosis (reduced bone mineral density; BMD) in HIV-infected patients and the role of antiretroviral therapy (ART) varies in the literature.

We conducted a meta-analytical review of cross-sectional studies published in English to determine the pooled odds ratios (OR) of reduced BMD and osteoporosis in the following groups: HIV-positive versus HIV-negative; ART-treated versus ART-naive; protease inhibitor (PI)-treated versus PI-untreated. We searched the MEDLINE, PubMed, and EMBASE databases for eligible references between January 1966 and November 2005. Random effects models were used to generate pooled OR estimates and confidence intervals.