WHO SHOULD GET A BONE MINERAL DENSITY TEST?

  • All women and men 65 years or older
  • Postmenopausal women and men 50 – 64 with risk factors for fracture including:
    • Fragility fracture after age 40
    • Vertebral fracture or low bone mass identified on x-ray
    • Parental hip fracture
    • High alcohol intake
    • Current smoking
    • Low body weight, i.e. less than 132 lbs or 60 kg
    • Weight loss since age 25 greater than 10%
    • High risk medication use: prolonged glucocorticoid use, aromatase inhibitors for breast cancer, androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer
    • Rheumatoid arthritis
    • Other disorders that may contribute to bone loss
  • Younger men or women (under 50) with a disease or condition associated with low bone mass or bone loss:
    • Fragility fractures
    • High-risk medication use (steroid use, aromatase inhibitors, androgen deprivation therapy)
    • Rheumatoid arthritis
    • Other chronic inflammatory conditions
    • Cushing’s disease
    • Malabsorption syndrome
    • Uncontrolled hyperthyroidism
    • Primary hyperparathyroidism
    • Hypogonadism; Early menopause (< 45)
    • Other disorders associated with rapid bone loss/fractures
    • Pregnancy
    • Diabetes
    • Cancer treatment
    • Family history of osteoporosis

BMD testing is not usually recommended in younger men or women (under age 50) unless there is a medical condition predisposing them to osteoporosis or when there are unexplained fragility fractures.