PubMed · 11987010
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C A Sharp, H Davies, M Davie, M J Haddaway. 2002. Bone density scanning.. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101287
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Osteoporosis is a growing problem in Asia, and early identification of at risk subjects for preventive measures is likely the most cost-effective method for managing this disease in developing countries. Patients with low bone mineral density (BMD) have a high risk of future fracture. However, access to BMD measurements is limited in many areas of Asia, and inexpensive methods of targeting high-risk patients for BMD measurements would be valuable. We compared two methods, a simple clinical risk assessment tool, the Osteoporosis Self-assessment Tool for Asians (OSTA), and quantitative bone ultrasound (QUS) in identifying subjects with low BMD by DXA in 722 southern Chinese postmenopausal women recruited from the community in Hong Kong. Using the published cutoff value of -1 (versus 0 or higher) for OSTA to identify subjects with femoral neck BMD T-score < or =-2.5, basing on our local population peak young mean value, the sensitivity and specificity was 88% and 54% respectively. The optimal cutoff T-score of -2.35 for QUS yielded sensitivity and specificity values of 81% and 65%, respectively. The AUC for QUS was 0.78, which was not significantly different from that of 0.80 for OSTA. Both OSTA and QUS correlated significantly with BMD at the femoral neck (0.62 and 0.36, respectively, P both <0.001). When these cut-off values were used to identify subjects with either lumbar spine or femoral neck BMD T-score < or =-2.5, the sensitivity and specificity was 79% and 60%, respectively, for OSTA, and 69% and 70%, respectively, for QUS. Combining QUS with OSTA improved the sensitivity to 91%, but the specificity was reduced to 44%. We conclude that the simple clinical risk assessment tool OSTA is a free and effective method for identifying subjects at increased risk of osteoporosis, and its use could facilitate the appropriate and more cost-effective use of bone densitometry in developing countries.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of forearm bone mineral density (BMD) and speed of sound (SOS) at the phalanx and radius as pre-selection tests to identify women with low BMD at the axial skeleton. BMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in the forearm, lumbar spine and femoral neck. SOS at the radius and phalanx was measured using a multisite quantitative ultrasound (QUS) device. Measurements were performed on 524 consecutive women referred for the assessment of BMD. Women with a T-score <-1 and T-score < or =-2.5 at either spine or femoral neck were identified, and T-score cut-off values for the forearm DXA and QUS variables were determined. Cut-off values for the forearm BMD estimated to detect normal women and those with T-score <-1 at the axial skeleton identified a total of 82% of subjects with 91% certainty. Cut-off values for the forearm BMD determined to detect women with T-score >-2.5 and those with osteoporosis allowed the identification of 62% of the study population with 90% certainty. Cut-off values for the phalangeal and radial SOS estimated to detect normal women and those with T-score <-1 at the axial skeleton identified a total of 49% and 1% of subjects, respectively. Cut-off values estimated for QUS variables to detect women with T-score >-2.5 and those with osteoporosis at the axial skeleton either failed to detect subjects with sufficient certainty (phalangeal SOS) or detected a negligible percentage of patients (radial SOS). In conclusion, forearm BMD may be used as a pre-selection test to identify women with low BMD at the axial skeleton, thus enabling reduction of the number of women who need axial BMD assessment. SOS of the phalanges and radius appears to have less value in the detection of the women with low axial BMD.
The purpose of this study was to assess the magnitude of the relationship between leisure physical activity and bone status as measured either by an Achilles ultrasound bone densitometer (QUS) or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in postmenopausal women. We studied 1162 French Canadian postmenopausal women, aged 33-84 years (mean age 58 years), for QUS parameters [broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), speed of sound (SOS), and stiffness index (SI)] measured at the right calcaneus, and bone mineral density (BMD) measured at the lumbar spine and femoral neck. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that leisure physical activity level was an independent predictor of the heel QUS parameters and of femoral neck BMD. No such association was observed for BMD of the lumbar spine. Heel QUS parameters (BUA, SOS, SI) and femoral neck BMD adjusted for interfering covariables showed a statistically significant difference between sedentary (less than three sessions/month) and active women (three or more sessions/week) (P < or = 0.001). Furthermore, after adjusting each heel QUS parameters for the mean lumbar spine BMD value, the association observed between leisure physical activity and QUS remained significant. These results suggest that regular leisure physical activity could influence QUS parameters, independently of BMD, and that quantitative ultrasound could be a suitable outcome measure in exercise studies in postmenopausal women.