Bone Mineral Density in Geographically Diverse Adolescent Populations

Abstract

Measure bone mineral density (BMD) in healthy Newfoundland adolescents and determine whether BMD is comparable in geographically diverse adolescent populations. Lumbar spine BMD was measured by dual-energy radiograph absorptiometry in 26 healthy adolescents between ages 8 and 20 years. The age and gender of these subjects were used to predict BMD from equations derived from normative BMD data in six geographically diverse populations. The actual BMD value obtained for each subject was then compared with each of the six predicted BMD values for that adolescent using the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test. Actual lumbar spine BMD in Newfoundland adolescents was not significantly different from that predicted by age and gender if they were from California, Finland, France, North Carolina, and Switzerland. Only the prediction based on the Spanish population resulted in a 4% greater BMD than was actually measured in the Newfoundland adolescents. Lumbar spine BMD measurements for most healthy adolescent populations, as in adults, are comparable despite geographic diversity. Thus, generation of institution-specific normative BMD data may not be necessary for most adolescent populations.