correlation between qus of phalanx and dxa in assessment of bone structure of postmenopausal women

this study planned for finding the agreement dxa and quantitative ultrasound (qus) of phalanx in osteoporosis diagnosis and cut off point of qus for osteoporosis diagnosis in postmenopausal women. in 180 postmenopausal women, bmd of axial regions with dxa (dpx-md, ge, lunar, usa) and phalanx with qus (dbm-sonic 1200) measured. agreement of methods and cut off for qus in defining osteoporosis obtained. prevalence of osteoporosis with dxa was 28.8% (18.3% in l2-l4 and 3.9%-7.8% in femoral regions) and in 28.9% with qus. agreement of them (kappa score) was 0.317 for spine and 0.036-0.068 for femoral regions. t-score= -2.0 was the cut off of qus in spinal osteoporosis diagnosis (sensitivity=78.8% and specificity= 55.9%). we could not find cutoff point for osteoporosis in femoral regions. this means that qus of phalanx is not a good replacement for dxa, but it can be used as a screening method for osteoporosis.