Comparison of Bone Mineral Densitometry at 2 Sites Versus 3 Sites in Patients Suspicious for Osteoporosis.

Objectives: In this study, we aim to evaluate the bone mineral density (BMD) results of 2 standard sites with 3 sites including wrist in diagnosing osteoporosis.

Methods: We evaluated the BMD results of 1272 individuals referred for suspected osteoporosis between 2012 and 2015. Those individuals were included with BMD at lumbar spine, femur neck, and wrist. Bone mineral density was measured using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) device. Bone mineral density and score were measured for all 3 sites.

Results: There was significant correlation between wrist score with hip score ( = 0.606, < .001) and lumbar score ( = 0.527, < .001). With BMD of 2 sites, patients had osteopenia in 46.3% and osteoporosis in 23.7%, while by adding wrist T-BMD, subjects had osteopenia in 46.6% and osteoporosis in 33%. Between BMD at 2 sites and 3 sites, there was concordance in 81.9%, minor discordance in 17.6%, and major discordance in 0.5%.

Conclusions: We observed discordance between BMD measurements of 2 sites and 3 sites, with latter detecting more cases with osteoporosis. In fact, measurement of scores of wrist along with lumbar and femur neck improves the diagnosis.