[Reliability of the modified albrand questionnaire to diagnose osteoporosis].
BACKGROUND
A considerable amount of Mexican women will be in menopausal status, though it won't be possible to carry out densitometry to all of them. Developing a risk-factor--based instrument to screen those who would need it is advisable.


OBJECTIVE
To ascertain the sensitivity and specificity of the Albrand questionnaire, which could be used to identify risk factors for osteoporosis.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study with a non-probabilistic sampling technique was used to include 906 menopausal women. All women answered a modified and previously validated version of Albrand questionnaire; Cronbach's alpha was 0.83. Eight risk factors for osteoporosis were analyzed; each risk factor had a different weight and the total score per patient was calculated. All underwent lower arm densitometry.


RESULTS
Peripheral densitometry revealed that 166 patients had osteoporosis and 740 did not. The global prevalence of osteoporosis was 18.3%; the cut-off value was set in > or =4 points. The Albrand questionnaire had 55% sensitivity and 79% specificity; the positive predictive value was 39% and the negative predictive value was 90%.


CONCLUSIONS
Albrand questionnaire has acceptable sensitivity and specificity and it could be useful for screening menopausal women who would need densitometry tests. Applying the instrument would reduce costs of osteoporosis detection.
Mendoza-Romo
Miguel Angel
MA
Departamento de Medicina Interna y Endocrinología, Hospital General de Zona 2, Mexico. merzmig@hotmail.com
Ramírez-Arriola
María Cleofas
MC
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires