Bone mineral density of different regions of the skeleton in turkish women

Osteoporosis is a progressive metabolic bone disease that decreases bone density, with deterioration of bone structure.Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is commonly used and reliable method for measurement of bone mineral density.The aims of this study are: (i) To determine if there is significant T-score difference among lumbar spine, proximal femur and forearm, (ii) to determinate of normal ranges of bone mineral density in new skletal regions. Fifty five females were included in this study. BMD was measured in at the lumbar spine, right hip, non-dominant forearm, left proksimal humerus, left proximal tibia and left distal femur using DXA.T-scores of all sub-regions in proximal femur was significantly different from total lumbar spine (L1-L4) in all groups (p<0.0001). But BMD values of femoral sub-regions was significantly correlated with total lumbar spine (LT) (r=0.436- 0.591). According to age, new average BMD values and new simulated T-scores in all sub-regions were calculated by linear regression formula leading to an average BMD value of the total lumbar spine (L1-L4) in normal population. Then, according to new average ± SD of BMD in all sub-regions, new simulated T-scores of each sub- region in left proksimal humerus, proximal tibia and distal femur were calculated. New simulated T-scores of proximal tibial sub-regions were not different than T-scores of total lumbar spine (p>0.05). We concluded that proximal tibia is an ideal evaluation region for measurement of BMD in osteoporosis.Key words: Bone mineral density, Turkish, women, T-score, regression, correlation.