How to Interpret Bone Mass Density Reports
Osteoporosis is a disease that causes porous, weakened bones that can lead to debilitating fractures, particularly in the hips, wrists and spine. The National Osteoporosis Foundation reports that osteoporosis affects about 44 million people in the U.S. and just over half of those are 50 or older. Because you won't know that you have osteoporosis until a bone fractures, it's important to have a bone mass density test to start medication therapy if needed.
Instructions
-
BMD Reports
-
1
Understand that a bone mineral density (BMD) test will reveal if your bones are staying the same or losing density, predict whether or not you will experience a fracture and helps you and your doctor to decide if medication therapy is required. Generally, the test will compare your bone density to that of a normal person with a peak bone density at age 30.
-
2
Know that there a several kinds of BMD tests, but that most experts--including the National Osteoporosis Foundation--recommend one called the central DXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry).
-
-
3
Read a T-score to interpret the BMD test. The T-score reveals whether your bone density is below or above normal. Typically more than one bone is tested. A health care provider will use the lowest T-score to diagnose osteoporosis. Here's how the scoring works:
• T-scores between +1 and -1 are normal.
• T-scores between -1 and -2.5 mean you have low bone density or osteopenia (which means you have a low bone density).
• T-scores of -2.5 or lower result in an osteoporosis diagnosis. -
4
Do the math on Standard Deviations (SD), which further evaluates how much your T-score is above or below normal. For example, 1 SD difference in a T-score equals a decrease in bone density of 10 to 15 percent.
-
5
To further evaluate your bone mass density reports, the BMD will include a Z-score which is designed to compare your bone density to what's normal for a person of your body size and age. Z-scores are a bit trickier and doctors usually don't use them to diagnose osteoporosis in men older than 50 or postmenopausal women, generally because older adults tend to have lower BMD scores. So Z-scores are reserved for children, younger men and premenopausal women. In general Z-scores above -2.0 are normal.
-
1
