Osteoporosis is an asymptomatic disease characterized by bone microarchitecture deterioration due to multiple risk factors, such as low bone mineral density (BMD), nutritional deficiency, a sedentary lifestyle, alcohol use, smoking, genetic factors, and the use of medications such as glucocorticoids, for example (1–4). The worldwide prevalence of osteoporosis is estimated to be 23.1% in women and 11.7% in men (5). The economic burden related to osteoporosis fractures is significant, costing approximately $17.9 billion a year in the US alone (6).

Studies show that the early and systematic identification of people with clinical indicators of osteoporosis, combined with primary care, appropriate interventions, and the use of therapeutic drugs has reduced the risk of fractures (7, 8). Clark and colleagues (9) demonstrated in a randomized clinical trial that primary healthcare screening tools increased osteoporosis drug prescriptions by 124% and reduced the incidence of fractures in the observed group. Their results support the premise that improving preventive screening methods is essential for identifying individuals at high risk of osteoporotic fractures. Therefore, the development of low-cost digital health technologies or solutions for rapid diagnosis in primary health care is essential.

Early screening for osteoporosis is a challenging problem because the most appropriate diagnostic method, based on dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to measure the number of grams of mineral per square centimeter (g/cm2) (from the lumbar spine, total femur, femoral neck or middle third of the radius) (10, 11), is highly expensive. Furthermore, as this method uses ionizing radiation technology and requires large, specialized equipment, these devices are generally concentrated in major healthcare centers. Given Brazil’s social inequality and geographical challenges, access to such services is often bureaucratic, slow, and, in some cases, unfeasible.

To overcome these challenges Brazilian researchers have developed a low-cost, portable device for osteoporosis screening called OSSEUS (12, 13). The device combines techniques for measuring the attenuation of electromagnetic waves passing through bone tissue, extracting patient features(risk factors), and recognizing patterns to help classify osteoporosis and provide decision support for healthcare professionals (14). A primary health care screening study using OSSEUS with a group of 505 people referred for a DXA scan found that 78.2% could start preventive care. In addition, the study also showed that 110 people (21.8%) were healthy (concerning this pathology) and did not need to be referred to specialized health centers to get a DXA screening (15).

Recognizing the importance of osteoporosis screening in primary health care and early care, such as treatment to reduce the incidence of fractures—especially in people identified by OSSEUS as having risk factors for the disease—, this study aims to provide a database of 669 people available to support future research, especially in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and contribute to the development of digital health solutions in response to osteoporosis. The dataset is available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14259374.

The dataset presents relevant characteristics of a particular region of Brazil, which can significantly contribute to training artificial intelligence algorithms, especially machine learning. The DXA screening reports certified by specialized health professionals indicated that 156 (23.32%) individuals had normal BMD, 309 (46.19%) had low BMD, and 204 (30.49%) had osteoporosis. In the sample, 609 (91.10%) were eligible for analysis based on the T-score and 60 (8.90%) on the Z-score, as recommended by the Clinical Protocol and Therapeutic Guidelines for Osteoporosis (PCDT) (10).

Moreover, based on gender features, 575 (85.95%) participants were females, and 94 (14.05%) were males. Figure 2a breaks down the most relevant features of both groups, considering the disease-related outcome. Figure 2b displays the age range of the studied group and shows a higher concentration of people in the 50–79 age bracket, totaling 541 (80.87%) individuals.

One of the groups recommended for DXA screening includes women over 65 and men aged 70 or older (10). Such group comprises 312 (46.6%) individuals with an average age of 72.8 years (ranging from 65 to 101 years), including 33 (10.5%) with normal BMD, 149 (47.7%) with low BMD, and 130 (41.6%) with osteoporosis.

Data stratification revealed that 252 people (37.67%) reported smoking, 215 (32.14%) were physically active, and 218 (32.59%) had osteoporotic parents. In addition to these characteristics, the analysis revealed a group of 302 (45.14%) individuals with underlying comorbidities and a second group of 132 (19.73%) who had previously experienced falls. Considering only the female group, which accounts for 575 participants, the data show that 519 (90.26%) reported being menopausal. In the male group, there were no reports of testosterone use. Additional characteristics can also be noted in the dataset, such as milk intake (77.7% reported consuming it) and supplementation with calcium (35.58%) and vitamin D (49.18%).