Nearly one-quarter of older women and one-fifth of men 65 and older suffer from osteoporosis in either their hip or spine, a new government report finds.

Osteoporosis, which literally means “porous bones,” occurs when bone mass, and therefore, bone strength is decreased. As a result, bones become fragile and break easily. Even a sneeze or a sudden movement can be enough to cause a bone fracture in someone with severe osteoporosis.

It is difficult to compare statistics on previous years, because earlier studies focused only on osteoporosis of the hip, and not the spine, study co-author Anne C. Looker of the CDC’s Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Statistics told Newsmax Health.

The report found that the rate of osteoporosis is highest among Mexican American seniors (24.9 percent), followed by non-Hispanic white adults (15.7 percent), and lowest among non-Hispanic black adults (10.3 percent).

The report is based on data for 2005-2010, which involves a household interview and a physical examination conducted in a mobile examination center.

This is the first CDC report to focus on osteoporosis in people 65 and older, a population of particular interest because they qualify for Medicare, the CDC said.

Osteoporosis is a common condition of aging, and many seniors take calcium and vitamin D supplements to combat it, although their effectiveness has been questions by some researchers. Pharmaceutical drugs, most commonly Fosamax, is prescribed to increase bone mass in osteoporosis patients.