Frequent Bone Density Tests May Be Unnecessary

Osteoporosis develops so slowly in women over 65 that frequent bone density tests may be unnecessary, a new study finds. 

These findings fall under a broader reimagining of the treatment of debilitating bone disease, including the discontinuation of treating women, indefinitely, with a class of drugs called biphosphonates, which are shown to prevent fractures.  Bone density is no longer considered the defining factor in determining the necessity of treatment, and in turn, researchers are questioning the validity of frequent testing altogether.  

For 15 years researchers followed 4957 women 67-years and older, all of which did not have osteoporosis.  Less than 1% of women who began the study with normal bone density developed osteoporosis over its course, compared to 5% of those with mildly low bone density after 15 years and 10% with substantially low bone density after just 1 year. 

At the moment, the standard interval between bone density tests is 2 years.  After these findings, researchers believe that interval should be much higher.

“Our data indicate that osteoporosis would develop in less than 10% of older, postmenopausal women during rescreening intervals of approximately 15 years for women with normal bone density or mild osteopenia, 5 years for women with moderate osteopenia, and 1 year for women with advanced osteopenia.”

-Michael Potts