To determine whether lumbar lordosis correlates with osteoarthritis (OA) and osteoporosis (OP).

A cross-sectional, blinded, controlled design was implemented. One hundred and twelve postmenopausal women were evaluated for bone mineral density and underwent spinal radiography. Lordosis measurement was performed by Cobb′s method. The participants were divided into four groups: patients with OP, patients with OA, patients with both diseases, and controls. For all participants, age, height, weight, body mass index, physical activity, and basal metabolic rate were measured and recorded.

There were no statistically significant differences in height, body mass index, daily activities, L1-5, L1-S1 and L5-S1 between the four groups (P>0.05). The comparison between the four groups of age, weight and BMR (H-B), BMR (Sch) had statistically significant differences(P<0.01), and compared with control group, the age of the OP group and the OP + OA group had a higher age, a smaller weight and a smaller BMR(H-B), and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01 or P<0.05); compared with the OA group, OP+ OA group had a higher age, a smaller weight and a smaller BMR(H-B), and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01 or P<0.05).

Lumbar lordosis does not correlate with OP or OA.