title: Volumetric bone mineral density at the spine and hip in Chinese American and White women.
abstract: This study evaluated racial differences in bone size and volumetric density at the spine and hip in pre- and postmenopausal Chinese American and White women. Compared with White women, Chinese American women have greater cortical volumetric bone density (vBMD) at the hip, congruent with the results at the peripheral skeleton.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Chinese American women have lower rates of fracture than White women despite lower areal bone density. At the forearm and tibia, however, Chinese American women have higher cortical vBMD as well as greater trabecular and cortical thickness, but smaller bone area as measured by high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) compared with White women. Since HR-pQCT data are obtained at peripheral sites, it is unclear whether these differences are relevant to the clinically important lumbar spine and hip. This study assesses racial differences in bone size and vBMD at the spine and hip in Chinese American and White women.
  
  
  METHODS
  QCT of the spine and hip was measured to assess racial differences in bone size, structure, and vBMD in pre- (n = 83) and postmenopausal (n = 50) Chinese American and White women. Data were adjusted for weight, height, physical activity, total calcium intake, parathyroid hormone, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among premenopausal women, lumbar spine trabecular vBMD was 5.8% greater in Chinese American versus White women (p = 0.01). At the hip, cortical vBMD was 3% greater at the femoral neck (p = 0.05) and 3.6% greater at the total hip (p = 0.01) in premenopausal Chinese American compared with White women. Among postmenopausal women, there was no difference in lumbar spine trabecular vBMD. Cortical vBMD was 4% greater at the total hip (p = 0.02) and tended to be greater at the femoral neck (p = 0.058) in Chinese American versus White women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consistent with earlier findings in the peripheral skeleton, cortical vBMD is greater at the hip in Chinese American versus White women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, PH8 West-864, New York, NY 10032, USA. mad2037@columbia.edu
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saeed
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Udesky
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bilezikian
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D002681:China; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000208:ethnology / Q000502:physiology; D017697:Premenopause / Q000208:ethnology / Q000502:physiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*