THE EFFECT OF SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS ON BONE-DENSITY IN A MALE CAUCASIAN POPULATION

We have examined the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on bone dens ity (BMD) in 201 males, aged 20-60 years. Males of lower SES (groups 4 -6 vs, 1-3) from the total sample had significantly higher BMD (p < 0. 05) at L2-4 and femoral neck, The difference was small but was not exp lained by differences in age, weight, calcium intake, family history, activity, or smoking, 45% of SES 4-6 males were involved in manual lab or compared with 11% of those in SES 1-3, however, this also did not a ppear to account for the difference.