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.