A comparison between the total and best regions of trabecular bone scores and evaluating the added value of combining the trabecular bone scores with bone-mineral density

Abstract

Introduction: Bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular bone score (TBS) are recognized as two indexes for diagnosis of osteoporosis. Objectives: The present study assesses the TBS performance as an alternative test for BMD. Patients and Methods: A retrospective descriptive study conducted on 2,106 patients were referred to two central hospitals; Resalat and Loghman in Tehran, Iran. Necessary data have been collected for the analysis process, including age, gender, body mass index, and L1-L4 TBS. Results: Four-hundred eligible patients were considered for our analysis process. Among these patients, about 13.8 and 86.3% were men and women with mean ages of 54.04 ± 10.92 and 53.83 ± 10.16 years, respectively (P=0.88). Our study showed a statistically significant difference between the mean TBS of all regions in patients (P=0.001), while this value was dependent on the gender and age of patients. The mean TBS of all regions in women younger than 50 years was significantly higher than those older than 50 years (P<0.001). Moreover, a statistically significant difference was observed between the means of the best regional TBS in all study groups (P<0.001). This study showed the lumbar spine TBS had a negative correlation with body mass index in women, while this correlation was not significant in men. Conclusion: Trabecular bone score can be conducted as a complementary index along with BMD, it can be employed independently as an appropriate indicator for osteoporosis.