An alternative tool to bone densitometry in ruling out osteoporosis in postmenopausal women between the age of 50 and 65 years

Objective: To devise an alternate tool to bone densitometry in ruling out osteoporosis in postmenopausal women between the age of 50 and 65. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 200 females aged between 50 and 65, from 1^st November 2002 to 15^th January 2003. Setting: North Medical Ward, Unit-4 & Out Patient Clinics, Mayo Hospital, and Akram Medical Complex, Lahore. Main outcome measures: Application of a tool based on the risk factor assessment in postmenopausal women as an alternative to bone densitometry in ruling out osteoporosis. Results: The study results showed that in postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 65 years without any major risk factors as assessed by using the questionnaire, the occurrence of osteoporosis was not evident although bone weakness of varying degrees was observed in 30.5% of the study sample. Conclusion: This tool thus provides us with an inexpensive and efficient way of ruling out osteoporosis in postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 65 years without assessing their BMD values.