title: Relationship between historical height loss and vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between historical height loss (HHL) and prevalent vertebral fractures (VF) in postmenopausal Moroccan women and to estimate its accuracy as a clinical test for detecting VF. Two hundred eighty-eight postmenopausal women were studied. All subjects had bone density measurements and spinal radiographs. Vertebral bodies (T4-L4) were graded using the semi-quantitative method of Genant. HHL was calculated as the difference between a patient's tallest recalled height and the current measured height. The mean age was 58.4 +/- 7.8 years. Thirty-one percent of patients were osteoporotic, and 46.5% had VF. Patients with VF had lost more height than those without VF (median, 2.0 cm (0.26-3.3) vs 0.96 cm (0.33-2.4), p < 0.05). In univariate analysis, HHL was positively correlated to both number and grade of prevalent VF (p < 0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the ability of HHL to detect VF was 0.60 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.52, 0.69). Our HHL threshold for detecting VF was >1.5 cm, its sensitivity was 58%, and its specificity was 61%. The positive predictive value was 53%, and the negative predictive value was 65%. With HHL >1.5 cm, positive likelihood ratio was 1.49 with 95% CI, 1.07, 2.06. Our results demonstrate significant positive associations between HHL, VF, number of VF, and grade of VF. However, this relationship is not clinically pertinent. Consequently, HHL cannot be used as a reliable clinical test for detecting VF in postmenopausal Moroccan women.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Information and Research on Bone Diseases, Department of Rheumatology, El Ayachi hospital, University Hospital of Rabat-Sale, Rabat, Morocco. loubnabennani29@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Loubna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bennani
authors.forename: Fadoua
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Allali
authors.forename: Samira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rostom
authors.forename: Ihsane
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hmamouchi
authors.forename: Hamza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khazzani
authors.forename: Laila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: El Mansouri
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ichchou
authors.forename: Fatima Zohra
authors.initials: FZ
authors.lastname: Abourazzak
authors.forename: Redouane
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abouqal
authors.forename: Najia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hajjaj-Hassouni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D015519:Bone Density; D002136:Calcium, Dietary; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D011859:Radiography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries
chemical_list: D002136:Calcium, Dietary
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