PREVALENCE OF LOW FEMORAL BONE-DENSITY IN OLDER US ADULTS FROM NHANES-III

Most estimates of osteoporosis in older U.S. adults have been based on its occurrence in white women, even though it is known to affect men and minority women, In the present study, we used dual-energy X-ray ab sorptiometry measurements of femoral bone mineral density (BMD) from t he third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994) to estimate the overall scope of the disease in the older U.S. population, Specifically, we estimate prevalences of low femoral BMD in women 50 years and older and explore different approaches for d efining low BMD in older men ire that age range, Low BMD levels were d efined in accordance with an approach proposed by an expert panel of t he World Health Organization and used BMD data from 382 non-Hispanic w hite (NHW) men or 409 NHW women ages 20-29 years from the NHANES III d ataset, For women, estimates indicate 13-18%, or 4-6 million, have ost eoporosis (i.e., BMD >2.5 standard deviations [SD] below the mean of y oung NHW women) and 37-50%, or 13-17 million, have osteopenia (BMD bet ween 1 and 2.5 SD below the mean of young NHW women), For men, these n umbers depend on the gender of the reference group used to define cuto ff values, When based on male cutoffs, 3-6% (1-2 million) of men have osteoporosis and 28-47% (8-13 million) have osteopenia; when based on female cutoffs, 1-4% (280,000-1 million) have osteoporosis and 15-33% (4-9 million) have osteopenia, Most of the older U.S. adults with low femur BMD are women, but, regardless of which cutoffs are used, the nu mber of men is substantial.