Prevalence of Osteoporosis Based on Bone Density Measurement in Korean Women

Cho, S H; Hwang, Y Y; Lee, J A; Choi, Y Y; Cho, S S

Abstract

OBJECT: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of Osteoporosis based on the measurement of bone mineral density in Korean women and compare the misclassification of diagnosis according to two different skeletal sites.
METHODS
Spinal and femur neck bone mineral density[BMD] was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry[QDR 4500 A, Hologic ] in 872 women over age 40 years old. The mean age, height and weight were 52.8 13.8 years, 156.4 13.3cm, 58.6 10.4kg, respectively.
RESULTS
The spinal and femur neck BMD decreased significantly with age increase. 10.7% of all women had spinal osteoporosis, and 6.3% had femoral osteoporosis. Of women in their forties, the prevalence of spinal and femoral osteoporosis were 1.8%, 0.6% and osteopenia were 20.4%, 27.8%, respectively. 16.3% and 10.0% of women older than 50 had spinal and femoral neck osteoporosis and the prevalence of osteoporosis increase according to age increase and 66.7% of women over 70 years of age had osteoporosis. The incidence of misclassification was low. Only 1.8%[1/55] of the women with osteoporosis determined by the spine measurement had a normal femur neck BMD and 7.5% of women with femur neck osteoporosis were diagnosed as normal in spinal BMD measurement. The greatest discrepancy occurred among women intheir fifties.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that 27.8% of women in their forties had osteopenia and only 11.1% of women age 70 and older had normal bone mineral density. The prevalence was similar at two measurement sites and the incidence of misclassification was low.