A Study on the Establishment of Reference Range of Osteoporosis at Distal Radius: A Community-based Study

Abstract

Objectives: The prevalence of osteoporosis varies in accordance with measurement equipment, measurement region, and normal bone mineral density(BMD) distribution of young adult. We intended to suggest the reference range of young female population who could provide reference data for osteoporosis diagnosis of residents in Gwangju City and determine the prevalence of osteoporosis.

Methods: We measured the BMD with DTX-200 of 802 women at the age of 20 or more among the residents of Gwangju City who participated in the health interview and examination survey from November 2005 to December. We measured height and weight of the subjects, disseminated self-entry questionnaire to them to ask about osteoporosis related factors.

Results: The BMD of subjects reached the maximum in the age group from the age of 40 to 49. The standardized prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis among the women at the age of 50 or more living in Gwangju City in view of the reference data of the young women from the age of 40 to 49 were 23.6% and 26.8% respectively.

Conclusion: We attempted to determine the distribution of BMD by extracting representative sample from the target population of local community and propose the reference range be from the age of 40 to 49 in relation to diagnosis of osteoporosis in distal radius. It seems sensible to build a stable database through cross-sectional studies and continuous time-series studies at a distance of time in order to present reference data for BMD in various measurement regions that could represent the Korean population.