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BONE MINERAL DENSITY HELPS PREDICT THE RISK OF NON-SPINE FRACTURES IN BOTH AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND CAUCASIAN WOMEN

Seattle (Oct. 1, 2004)—Bone mineral density (BMD) measurements help predict the risk of non-spine fractures in African-American women as well as they do in Caucasian women, according to a study presented today by Jane Cauley, DR.P.H., at the 26th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR). This finding is important because previous correlation of BMD with fracture risk has been done on a largely Caucasian female population.

Dr. Cauley and her colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, measured BMD of the hip and bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) of the head of the femur (hip bone) in 651 older African-American women (mean age 75.4 years). The measurements were taken when the study began, and then the women were followed for an average of 5.2 years.

During the follow-up period, 53 of the women sustained non-spine fractures confirmed by x-ray studies. The women whose bones fractured had lower bone mineral density than non-fracturing African-American subjects. Women in the fracture group also were less likely to walk for exercise, were more likely to report osteoarthritis, and more likely to need to use their arms to stand from a chair than women who did not fracture. When the data were adjusted for age and weight, these relationships remained.

Although BMD and BMAD accurately predicted the possibility of fracture in older African-American women, when the results were compared to similar data in Caucasian women, African-American women sustained 40 to 50 percent fewer fractures than Caucasian women at every BMD

level. The authors interpreted this result to mean that other variables, such as bone turnover and non-skeletal factors, contribute to the higher bone strength of African-American women. Therefore, it may be important to consider BMD scores and their relation to fracture risk very differently for African-American women than for Caucasian women.

For more information on this study, visit www.asbmr.org.

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The ASBMR Annual Meeting is the pre-eminent scientific meeting on bone and mineral metabolism. More than 5,000 delegates are expected to attend the October 1-5 meeting, where approximately 1,900 scientific abstracts are presented. The ASBMR is the premier professional, scientific and medical society established to promote excellence in bone and mineral research and to facilitate the translation of that research into clinical practice. The ASBMR has a membership of nearly 4,000 physicians, basic research scientists, and clinical investigators. To learn more about the Society and the field of bone and mineral research, visit the ASBMR website at www.asbmr.org.

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