A national random survey of bone mineral density reporting in the United States

The rapidly evolving technology of bone mineral density (BMD) testing has revolutionized the clinical care of osteoporosis; however, at present, there are no guidelines for BMD reporting. A survey was mailed to a random sample of bone densitometry centers in the United States registered in the National Osteoporosis Foundation database in order to evaluate the practice of BMD reporting in the United States. Of the 1200 questionnaires mailed, 22.5% were completed and returned. Spine and hip BMD were routinely measured at 71% of the centers and were expressed as T-scores by 90% of centers. The World Health Organization working group definition of osteoporosis was included in the report by 64% of the survey responders and was used as the sole criterion to make treatment recommendations by 34%. Fracture risk was reported by 70% of the centers and only the minority (<15%) applied appropriate age and gender restrictions. There were geographic and specialty variations in the practices of bone density reporting. Despite the established value of clinical densitometry in the care of patients at risk for osteoporosis, our survey revealed that clinical information, including fracture risk, was missing from many reports. A re-examination of the practice of clinical densitometry reporting is warranted.