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Reference values for bone mineral density in 12- to 18-year-old girls categorized by weight, race, and age

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Abstract

Background: Normative bone mineral density (BMD) values for adults do not apply to the pediatric population because of dramatic and variable rates of bone mineral acquisition that take place throughout adolescence. Objective: This study was designed to provide normative BMD values for the lumbar spine and femoral neck by age, weight, and race in female adolescents for use by clinicians. Materials and methods: The study population comprised 422 healthy adolescent girls aged 12–18 years recruited from four primary-care clinics. BMD measurements were performed with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Results: The major statistical predictors of lumbar spine BMD and femoral neck BMD were race, chronological age, and weight. There was an increase in both lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD that paralleled an increase in age and weight. In addition, the lumbar spine BMD and the femoral neck BMD were higher in the black participants than in the non-black participants with mean BMD values in grams per centimeter squared of 1.02 and 0.98, respectively, for blacks and 0.96 and 0.89, respectively, for non-blacks (P<0.001). Conclusion: Our study produced the largest set of lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD normative values for female adolescents and confirms the importance of both demographic and anthropomorphic variables in determining normative BMD values.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NIH grants R01HD39009 and General Clinical Research Center grant M1RR00080I2. Acknowledgment to B.A. Rachel Whitsel, L.P.N. Mary Jo Day, R.N. Darlene Lewis, for their help in preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 2500 MetroHealth Dr., Cleveland, OH, 44109, USA

    Barbara A. Cromer, Julie Ziegler & Ray Harvey

  2. Department of Radiology, Columbus Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA

    Larry Binkovitz

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Sara M. Debanne

Authors
  1. Barbara A. Cromer
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  2. Larry Binkovitz
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  3. Julie Ziegler
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  4. Ray Harvey
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  5. Sara M. Debanne
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara A. Cromer.

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This work was performed at MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine.

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Cromer, B.A., Binkovitz, L., Ziegler, J. et al. Reference values for bone mineral density in 12- to 18-year-old girls categorized by weight, race, and age. Pediatr Radiol 34, 787–792 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-004-1229-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-004-1229-1

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