Osteoporosis by forearm bone densitometry in postmenopausal women in West Virginia.

Forearm bone densitometry examination predicts the relative risk of osteoporotic fracture, but not as reliably as central densitometry of the hip and spine. The ease of performance, inexpensiveness, and mobility of this technique makes it especially appealing in rural states like West Virginia. After evaluating 1,321 Caucasian women in West Virginia by peripheral bone densitometry at the proximal 1/3 radius region, we found a 26.