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In a study published last year, Margaret Gourlay and colleagues attempted to propose strategies for screening intervals of bone mineral density (BMD) testing [1]. Since then, the paper has been discussed in the correspondence section of the journal [2–5]. The authors analyzed data of 4957 women, 67 years of age or older, recruited in 1986 in the USA, who did not have osteoporosis at baseline, and who were followed longitudinally for up to 15 years within the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) [6]. For this analysis, 49% of the total study population were excluded because they either already had osteoporosis, as defined by the World Health Organization (25%) [7] or treatment for osteoporosis or incomplete BMD data. BMD was measured by DXA at the femoral neck and total hip.

 

The primary outcome was to determine the BMD testing interval in these women, defined as the estimated time for 10% of the subjects to make the transition to osteoporosis from normal bone density or osteopenia at baseline, before a hip or clinical vertebral fracture occurred and before treatment for osteoporosis was initiated. The participants were stratified into four groups according to the [i]T[/i]-score range (lowest [i]T[/i]-score at femoral neck or total hip): normal BMD ([i]T[/i]-score ≥ 1.00), mild osteopenia ([i]T[/i]-score −1.01 to −1.49), moderate osteopenia ([i]T[/i]-score −1.50 to −1.99), and advanced osteopenia ([i]T[/i]-score −2.00 to −2.49). Sixty-two percent of women with advanced, 21% with moderate, and less than 5% with mild osteopenia, and not even 1% with normal BMD made the transition to osteoporosis. 

 

Referring to calculations with parametric cumulative incidence models, the authors conclude that osteoporosis would develop in less than 10% of older women during rescreening intervals of approximately 1 year for women with advanced osteopenia, 5 years for women with moderate osteopenia, and 15 years for women with normal bone density or mild osteopenia, and, thus, they propose such interval testing for each group.

Author(s)

  • Ewald Boschitsch
    Head of the KLIMAX Menopause and Osteoporosis Clinic, Vienna, Austria

Citations

  1. Gourlay ML, Fine JP, Preisser JS, et al. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. Bone-density testing interval and transition to osteoporosis in older women. N Engl J Med 2012;366:225-33.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22256806
  2. Cheung AM, Papaioannou A; Osteoporosis Canada Scientific Advisory Council Guidelines Committee. Bone-density testing interval and transition to osteoporosis. N Engl J Med 2012;366:1546; author reply 1547-8.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22512490
  3. Lewiecki EM, Miller PD, Bilezikian JP. Bone-density testing interval and transition to osteoporosis. N Engl J Med 2012;366:1546-7; author reply 1547-8.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22512491
  4. Yu EW, Finkelstein JS. Bone density screening intervals for osteoporosis: one size does not fit all. JAMA 2012;307:2591-2. Erratum in JAMA 2012;308:1432.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22735425
  5. Gourlay ML, Preisser JS, Ensrud KE. Bone density testing in older women. JAMA 2012;308:1428-9.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23047349
  6. Cummings SR, Black DM, Nevitt MC, et al. Appendicular bone density and age predict hip fracture in women. The Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. JAMA 1990;263:665-8.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2404146
  7. Assessment of fracture risk and its application to screening for postmenopausal osteoporosis. 1994 World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser 843:1129.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7941614
  8. ISCD response to Gourlay et al. (NEJM 2012;366:225), 2012 Jan 20.
    http://www.iscd.org/
  9. Collins GS, Michaëlsson K. Fracture risk assessment: state of the art, methodologically unsound, or poorly reported? Curr Osteoporos Rep 2012;10:199-207.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22688862
  10. Leslie WD, Rubin MR, Schwartz AV, Kanis JA. Type 2 diabetes and bone. J Bone Miner Res 2012;27:2231-7.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23023946
  11. Siris ES, Chen YT, Abbott TA, et al. Bone mineral density thresholds for pharmacological intervention to prevent fractures. Arch Intern Med 2004;164:110812.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15159268
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