title: Ultrasonometric profiling of incidence and risk of osteoporosis on rural women.
abstract: It is estimated that over 200 million people worldwide have osteoporosis. The prevalence of osteoporosis is continuing to escalate with the increasingly elderly population. The major complication of osteoporosis is an increase in fragility fractures leading to morbidity, mortality, and decreased quality of life. This investigation aimed at profiling the incidence and risk of osteoporosis in adult women from a rural setting using ultrasonic bone scanning technology. Peri- and postmenopausal female subjects (n=234) were drawn from a convenience sample. After a non-radiative dual X-ray absorptiometric scanning, the bone mineral density was measured from the heel of the subjects using bone ultrasonometry, and their T-scores were recorded. Results of these scans indicate that in adult women in the age range of 32 and 87, 23.5% of the population had a heel ultrasonic T-score < or =1.0, implying a 1.5 to 2.0 fold increase in risk ratio of hip or spinal fracture for each standard deviational decrease. Age at menopause was positively correlated with T-scores (p= 0.032); the higher the age at menopause, the higher the T scores. Additionally, women who had taken estrogen had significantly higher T-scores (p=0.038) than those who had not. That approximately 25% of this sample has low bone mass or osteoporosis underscores the importance of early screening in order to develop awareness and provide education on bone health management.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Primary & Preventative Health Care, Decker School of Nursing, State University of New York, Binghamton, New York 13902, USA. gueldner@binghamton.edu
authors.forename: Sarah H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Gueldner
authors.forename: Gerri R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Brittbon
authors.forename: Carolyn S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Pierce
authors.forename: Guruprasad
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Madhavan
authors.forename: Sheri A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Stucke
authors.forename: Theresa N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Grabo
authors.forename: Bernadette M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Lombardi
authors.forename: Frances M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Srnka-Debnar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015519:Bone Density; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006365:Heel; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D047648:Perimenopause; D017698:Postmenopause; D012306:Risk; D012424:Rural Population; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*