PubMed1994
Ultrasonic bone density measurements were performed in a population to study the relationship of bone density to age, body size, fracture, hip and back pain, and their diagnostic value for osteoporosis. In additions other factors related with osteoporosis diagnosed using ultrasonic measurements values were examined. The study subjects were thirty-eight men and sixty-three women who participated in community health examinations in 1993 in Akabane, Aichi prefecture. Indices evaluated for ultrasonic bone density measurement were speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and stiffness index (SI). 1) In men, means for SOS and SI values declined with age from the forties to the seventies, but BUA was not related to age. In premenopausal women, SOS, BUA and SI were not related to age, but an age related decline was observed in postmenopausal women. 2) BUA was positively related to body weight in men and women, while the relationship with SOS and SI was not as strong. 3) Two postmenopausal women experienced fractures due to osteoporosis, and their SI values were less than 59%. About fifty percent of the subjects had hip and back pain but no clear association of SI to prevalence rate was observed. 4) Osteoporosis was diagnosed using SI values. Cases of osteoporosis were relatively older, had more years since menopause, were lower in height, body weight and thickness of skinfolds, but had higher serum total cholesterol levels others. 5) Further prospective epidemiological studies should be performed to evaluate the validity of this diagnostic criterion using SI values, and to clarify the relationship of lifestyles to ultrasonic bone density measurement and osteoporosis.