Bone mineral density--correlation between quantitative ultrasound characteristics and dual energy X-ray...

The speed of sound (SOS) and the broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), as determined by quantitative ultrasound at the calcaneum, were correlated with the bone mineral density (BMD) measurements using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the femoral neck and the lumbar spine in 110 females. There were moderate correlations of 0.629, 0.623 and 0.594 between the BMD at the anterior-posterior lumbar spine, lateral lumbar spine and femoral neck with the SOS at the calcaneum (all P < 0.001). The corresponding correlations with BUA were 0.646, 0.643 and 0.628 respectively (all P < 0.001). This suggests that quantitative ultrasound may be reasonably accurate and useful for the assessment of osteoporosis.