A Scoring System to Identify Patients with Autoimmune Hepatitis at Increased Risk for Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a known complication of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Identifying which factors put AIH patients at increased risk would help determine which patients would benefit from bone mineral density (BMD) measurements and antiosteoporotic therapy.

This retrospective cross-sectional study assessed BMD status in a large German cohort of patients with AIH. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the presence of osteoporosis, and a scoring system was developed from that effort.

The cohort comprised 211 patients (mean age, 56.8 years; 79.1% women); 15.6% had osteoporosis, with a prevalence of 19.2% in those aged ≥50 years. Risk for osteoporosis increased 13.8-fold with age >54, 6.2-fold with steroid use >90 months, 5…