The study of bone mineral density measured by quantitative computed tomography in middle-aged and elderly men with abnormal glucose metabolism

BACKGROUND: To investigate the value of quantitative computed tomography (QCT) measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) in middle-aged and elderly men with abnormal blood glucose. METHODS: Total 138 men aged above 50 years old with routine physical examination were involved in the study. All participants were evaluated with serological index, BMD by QCT and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Statistical analysis was conducted by χ(2) test and regression model. RESULTS: All individuals were divided into normal blood glucose (NBG) group and abnormal blood glucose (ABG) group. Compared with NBG group, BMD detected by QCT was obviously lower in ABG group (P < 0.05). More cases with low bone mass or osteoporosis were detected by QCT measurement than DXA (χ(2) = 56.618, P = 0.000), which were consistent in both NBG and ABG groups (χ(2) was 33.564 and 23.250, P = 0.000). No significant difference of detection rates was found in both subgroups neither by QCT nor DXA measurement (χ(2) = 4.204, P = 0.122). Regression analysis revealed that ABG was negatively associated with BMD assessed by QCT (β = -0.217, P < 0.05), which did not show statistical difference after adjusting for age. CONCLUSION: In middle-aged and elderly male patients with NBG or ABG, QCT manifests higher detection rates of low bone mass and osteoporosis than DXA. ABG is negatively correlated with BMD measured by QCT, which is affected by age.