Objective To analyze the risk factors and characteristics of bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer. Methods Patients who were diagnosed as prostate cancer by biopsy and histopathologic analysis between June 2006 and June 2016 were included in this study. The clinical data of the patients were reviewed, and the demographic data, laboratory examination results and Gleason score were recorded. The correlations between clinical factors and bone metastasis were analyzed, and the risk factors of bone metastasis were identified. Results A total of 585 patients were recruited in this study, including 228 with bone metastasis and 357 without bone metastasis. Of the patients with bone metastasis, the incidence of pelvic metastasis was the highest, accounting for 81.58%, followed by spin (63.16%) and rib (58.33%), and the incidence of clavicle metastasis was the lowest (14.47%). Logistic regression analysis showed that age <71.5 years, alkaline phosphotase >85.5U/L, prostate-specific antigen >79.88μg/L and Gleason score >7.5 were the risk factors of bone metastasis in prostate cancer. ROC curve analysis showed that the sensitivity of diagnosing bone metastasis was 56.1%, 66.7%, 68.4% and 56.1%, and the specificity was 56.6%, 81.8%, 70.0% and 65.3%, respectively for above 4 factors. Conclusions The most common site of bone metastasis in patients with prostate cancer is pelvis. Patients' age, concentrations of plasma ALP and PSA, and Gleason score are the risk factors for bone metastasis in patients with prostate cancer. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2017.08.09