Current status of hip bone densitometry in Japan: a nationwide survey

Hip fracture greatly impairs quality of life in patients with osteoporosis. Measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) in the hip, which is closely related to fracture risk, is therefore diagnostically important. Furthermore, since in some elderly individuals lumbar BMD may be overestimated because of vertebral fracture or spondylosis deformans, measurement of hip BMD is also important. However, hip BMD is unlikely to be measured as often as lumbar BMD in Japan. A questionnaire survey was conducted to determine how many institutions measure hip BMD. A total of 861 institutions responded to the survey, 596 (69%) of which performed hip bone densitometry. The number of such institutions per million population was calculated to be 4.7. Measurement of hip BMD was more frequent in university hospitals than in general hospitals, clinics, and non-medical institutions. Furthermore, 298 (51%) of 590 institutions measured hip BMD in more than 75% of all bone densitometry examinees. This is the first report on the current status of utilization of hip bone densitometry in Japan.