Peak BMD attainment varies by sex, skeletal site
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A cross-sectional analysis of national survey data shows that age at peak bone mineral density attainment varies by sex and skeletal site, with women reaching peak BMD at all sites up to 4 years earlier than men, according to findings published in Bone.
“Improving bone health among individuals before age 20 years may be useful for reducing the future risk for osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures,” Shuman Yang, PhD, associate professor at the School of Public Health at Jilin University in China, told Endocrine Today. “Longitudinal studies with repeated BMD measurements from ages 15 to 20 years are warranted.”
Yang and colleagues analyzed data from 18,713 adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2005 and 2014 with complete DXA data on femoral hip, total hip and lumbar spine BMD (51.1% men; mean age of men, 36 years; mean age of women, 40 years). Researchers used generalized additive models to estimate the age at attainment of peak BMD at the femoral neck, total hip and lumbar spine, stratified by sex.
Researchers found that women achieved peak femoral neck, total hip and lumbar spine BMD earlier than men (P < .001). The mean age at attainment of peak femoral neck, total hip and lumbar spine BMD was 20.5 years, 21.2 years and 23.6 years, respectively, for men, and 18.7 years, 19 years and 20.1 years, respectively, for women. Results persisted in subgroup analyses stratified by race and BMI.
The researchers noted that due to lack of data, they could not consider pubertal age, which has been shown to be an important factor for determining peak BMD.
“These results suggested that improving bone health among individuals before 20 years old may be useful for reducing future risk of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures,” the researchers wrote. – by Regina Schaffer
For more information:
Shuman Yang, PhD, can be reached at Jilin University, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, 232-1163 Xinmin Street, Changchun, Jilin, China 130021; email: shumanyang@jlu.edu.cn.
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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