Bone mineral density values in healthy Han Chinese individuals from northern China were measured to determine peak bone mass age, magnitude, and normal ranges across age groups. DXA was used to assess bone density at the lumbar spine (L2-L4) and hip. Results showed peak bone mass age for males occurred between 20-24 years across all sites, with L2-L4 density at 1228 (g/cm²).For women, peak age at L2–L4 was 30–34 years with a value of 1197 (g/cm²). Peak hip bone density occurred between 25 and 29 years.
At the 2004 World Congress on Osteoporosis hosted by the International Foundation for Osteoporosis (IFO), Johnell et al. from the WHO Centre for Metabolic Bone Disease Research at the University of Sheffield conducted a meta-analysis of 12 clinical studies. They concluded that bone mineral density (BMD) is a highly significant fracture risk factor for both men and women.The study included 39,000 participants from 12 population-based studies, observing approximately 170,000 person-years. Poisson models were used to analyze the impact of BMD on fracture risk within each study cohort, with weighted coefficients applied to synthesize results across studies. Findings demonstrated that BMD serves as a strong predictor of fractures (particularly hip fractures) in both men and women.
In the 65-year-old cohort, each 1-standard deviation (SD) decrease in BMD increased the risk of hip fracture by 2.94 times (2.02–4.27) in men and 2.88 times (2.31–3.59) in women. However, this effect was age-dependent, with the risk gradient being significantly higher at age 50 than at age 80.The risk gradients for all fracture types and osteoporotic fractures were lower than for hip fractures, with BMD predictive value increasing with age. In the 65-year-old cohort, each 1 SD decrease in BMD increased the risk of osteoporotic fractures by 1.41 times (1.33–1.51) in men and 1.38 times (1.28–1.41) in women.For hip fractures, the predictive value of BMD decreased with increasing time interval between fracture and BMD measurement, though this difference was not statistically significant.Lower BMD values demonstrated greater predictive power for osteoporotic fractures (and all fracture types). A 4-SD decrease in T-score yielded an HR of 2.10 (1.63–2.71), while a 1-SD decrease produced an HR of 1.73 (1.59–1.89). Similar predictive utility for hip fractures was observed.Johnell et al. concluded that the findings hold strong generalizability due to the international nature of the selected clinical studies. The analysis indicates BMD can be used for screening susceptible cases, but age-related variations in BMD's fracture prediction value must be considered during application.