An Approach to Identifying Osteopenic Women at Increased Short-term Risk of Fracture

Abstract
The association between bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture risk is continuous, with an approximate doubling of fracture risk for each standard deviation decline in BMD T score.1 Despite this continuous relationship, efforts at fracture risk reduction are often limited to women whose central BMD measurement has been classified as "osteoporotic," that is, T scores of −2.5 or less based on the 1994 World Health Organization (WHO)2 diagnostic classification. Postmenopausal women with a diagnosis of "osteopenia," that is, T scores between −2.5 and −1.0 based on the WHO classification, may also be at risk of fracture.3,4