title: A 5-year longitudinal study of forearm bone mass in 307 postmenopausal women.
abstract: We measured forearm bone mineral content at the beginning and end of a 5 year period in 307 untreated postmenopausal volunteers. We also measured height, weight, and a number of biochemical variables in plasma and urine after an overnight fast. The initial mean age of the subjects was 59.0 years (range 39-72), and the mean years since menopause was 10.0 (range 1-37). The mean forearm BMC fell from 1034 +/- 9.6 (SEM) to 982 +/- 9.3 mg/cm (P < 0.001). The coefficient of correlation between the first and second measurements was 0.96. The mean rate of change was -1.0% per annum (with a 99% range of -4 to 1% per annum), which agreed well with previous estimates from cross-sectional data. There was a significant negative correlation between rate of change in bone mass and initial value (r = -0.23; P < 0.001), which was eliminated by expressing change as a percentage of initial bone mass. Of the other variables measured, the one that was most significantly related to the percentage change in bone mass was the urinary hydroxyproline/creatinine ratio (r = -0.35; P < 0.001), which we regard as a marker only. By stepwise regression, the only significant determinants of the rate of change in bone mass were body weight (positive, P < 0.001), years since menopause (positive, P < 0.005), urine calcium (negative, P < 0.01), and serum estrone (positive, P < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Biochemistry, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide, South Australia.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Nordin
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Cleghorn
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Chatterton
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Need
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D003720:Densitometry; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005542:Forearm; D006801:Humans; D006909:Hydroxyproline / Q000652:urine; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003404:Creatinine; D006909:Hydroxyproline