Measurements of bone mineral density and stiffness index in young Saudi females

OBJECTIVE: To examine the ability to use Quantitative Ultrasonography (QUS) densitometer for screening of osteoporosis and osteopenia by comparing QUS values obtained at the calcaneus region to bone mineral density (BMD) values measured at the spine and the neck of the femur using Dual Energy X-ray Absorbemetry (DXA). METHODS: QUS (in the calcaneus region) and DXA (the spine and the neck of femur respectively) measurements were performed in 101 females. RESULTS: The precision of the QUS parameters varied from 1.77-1.78, whereas the reliability ranged from 92.2%-98.6%. For the QUS parameters variability between subjects was greater than that within subjects. Positive correlation were found between stiffness index (SI) and BMD(spine) and BMD(N.femur) (r= 0.29 & r=0.25 respectively, P < 0.05) and a strong positive correlation between T-score(calcaneus) and both T-score(Spine) and T-score(N.femur) (r= 0.5 & r=0.58 respectively, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: QUS is a reliable technique to be used in combination with DXA for the investigation of osteopenia and osteoporosis.