Do Australian women have greater spinal bone density than North American women?
The interpretation of bone mineral densitometry results for a particular individual relies on valid reference data from a representative population sample. To establish local reference data, 411 Australian female volunteers had bone mineral densitometry performed at a single medical centre at the proximal femur and lumbar spine using a Hologic QDR 1000-W dual-energy X-ray absorptiometer. These data were compared with reference material from North American women compiled by Hologic. The Australian volunteers had, on average, 7% greater bone mineral density at the lumbar spine for the age range 25-55 years. Possible explanations for this include an actual population difference or the presence of a differential selection bias between the two samples.
Flicker
L
L
University of Melbourne Department of Medicine, Parkville, Australia.
Green
R
R
Kaymakci
B
B
Lichtenstein
M
M
Buirski
G
G
Wark
J D
JD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D015519:Bone Density; D005260:Female; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008161:Lumbosacral Region; D008875:Middle Aged; D009656:North America; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013131:Spine / Q000378:metabolism*