Age changes of calcaneal ultrasonometry in healthy German women

This study assessed age changes in quantitative ultrasound sonometry (QUS) in a large sample of healthy German women. Speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), and stiffness index (SI) of the calcaneus wer e measured in 1333 women (mean age 50.5 +/- 11.5 years) using the Achilles ultrasonometer (Lunar Corp., Madison, WI, USA). The short-term precision in 31 adults was 0.2% for SOS, 1.2% for BUA, and 1.3% for SI. There was an ov erall decline of 15% for BUA, 4% for SOS, and 31% for SI between late adole scence and old age. In premenopausal women, BUA decreased only slightly (-3 %), whereas postmenopausal women showed a significantly increased decline ( -12%). In contrast, SOS continuously decreased from the age of 15; there wa s a decline of 2% from adolescence to the menopause; postmenopausal women s howed a slightly larger decline (-2.5%). The SI of premenopausal women decr eased by 10%, but the postmenopausal decline of almost 22% was significantl y greater. SI values for premenopausal German women were comparable to thos e observed in the American Achilles reference population, but postmenopausa l German women had significantly higher SI values of 7% due to a lower rate of aging loss.