Total and regional bone mineral content in healthy Spanish subjects by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.
METHODS
This is an observational cross-sectional study.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of the present study was to describe and analyze patterns of change in total and regional bone mineral content in relation to age and gender in a sedentary Spanish sample population (from the Community of Madrid). The age range of the sample population was from birth to 80 years.


METHODS
One thousand one hundred twenty healthy subjects were recruited and divided into 16 groups according to age. Each subject underwent whole-body densitometry using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. An analysis was made of the amount of bone mineral content (BMC) in the whole body and in different regions: the head, trunk, upper limbs, and lower limbs.


RESULTS
Gender differences in mean values for upper limbs and lower limbs are statistically significant between 16 and 70 years of age. For the head and trunk, the mean BMC values show the most significant gender differences between 16 and 25 years of age (p <or= 0.001). Total bone mineral content (TBMC) and TBMC-to-height ratio show significant gender differences between 16 and 70 years of age. In females, TBMC values increase up to 20 years of age and in males up to 25 years of age.


CONCLUSIONS
We have determined an evolutionary normal pattern of bone mineral content in urban Spanish people.
Aguado Henche
S
S
Departamento de Anatomía y Embriología Humana, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Alcalá, Campus Universitario, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona, Km 33.600, 28871, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. soledad.aguado@uah.es
Rodríguez Torres
R
R
Clemente de Arriba
C
C
Gómez Pellico
L
L
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001823:Body Composition; D015519:Bone Density; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013030:Spain; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric