Limb measurements for height and bone mineral density estimation

To estimate height and forearm bone mineral density (BMD), three simple sites of limb segments of 428 healthy subjects (321 females and 107 males) were measured. Mean length of upper arm length (UAL), lower arm length (LAL) and knee to floor height (KFH) were not different in various age groups (p > 0.05). Good correlations were obtained from all measurements compared with height (r = 0.789, 0.826 and 0.810 for UAL, LAL and KFH, respectively) and moderate correlations were found compared with BMD (r = 0.386, 0.461 and 0.458 for UAL, LAL and KFH, respectively). If physically disabled activity occurred in some segmental limbs, the others which have good ability can be used for height assessment. When applying the stepwise method for multiple regression analysis, combination of LAL, KFH and UAL showed the best correlation (r = 0.866) with height. It indicated that UAL, LAL and KFH measurements provide enough predictive ability for height estimation. Only LAL and KFH were the variables which predicted BMD equation with moderately predictive ability. In primary health care, simple long bone measurements with the patient's history should be a primary step for screening of high risk osteoporotic patients. In prevention of osteoporotic fracture, LAL and KFH may be a useful adjunct to other criteria in the discrimination of high risk patients.