Changing from male to female bone densitometer database for T–score derivation in men: impact on bone loss diagnostic classification.

Imad Ghozlani; Mirieme Ghazi; Radouane Niamane; Abdellah El Maghraoui

Volume : VII, Issue : III, March - 2017

Changing from male to female bone densitometer database for T–score derivation in men: impact on bone loss diagnostic classification.

Imad Ghozlani, Mirieme Ghazi, Radouane Niamane, Abdellah El Maghraoui

Abstract :

Objective: to evaluate the impact of changing from male to female database for T–score derivation on mean T–score, and bone mineral density diagnostic classification when applying the WHO criteria, in men. Material and methods: 1200 men were enrolled. Lumbar spine and femur scans were obtained using a bone densitometer. Initially, the male normative database was used to calculate T–scores. Subsequently, all scans were reanalyzed using the female database for T–score derivation. Results: when the scans were reanalyzed using the female databases, the female databases derived T–scores were lower (p<0.0001) and the proportion of men classified as having osteoporosis at any single site decreased from 14.8% to 11.2%. On reanalysis with female databases, T–scores increased (p<0.0001) with a positive bias of 0.45, 0.90, and 0.45 at L1–L4 spine, femur neck, and total hip respectively. Conclusion: use of female databases to derive male T–scores reduces the number of men diagnosed with osteoporosis.