Predictors of bone mineral density in african-american and caucasian college-aged women.

BACKGROUND Research regarding risk factors and prevalence of low bone mineral density (BMD) among African-American and Caucasian college-aged women are limited. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine if selected predictors of BMD in African-American and Caucasian college-aged women differ by race. METHODS A total of 101 local African-American (n=50) and Caucasian (n=51) females, ages 18 to 30 years, were in this study. All data were collected in the Bone Density and Body Composition Laboratory. BMD was measured using DXA technology. Race, family history of osteoporosis, BMI, current physical activity, osteoporosis knowledge, length of time on oral contraceptives, age at menarche and calcium intake were included in the multiple regression analyses with spinal and femoral BMD as dependent variables. RESULTS Overall, 38.6% had low spinal BMD and 7.9% had low femoral BMD. BMI (β=0.073, R(2) = .148, P = .001, 95% CI [0.030, 0.116]) and current physical activity (β=0.071, R(2) = .148, P = .017, 95% CI [0.013, 0.129]) were the only variables that were statistically significant in predicting spinal BMD. BMI (β=0.056, R(2) = .13, P = .010, 95% CI [0.014, 0.098]) and current physical activ-ity (β=0.078, R(2) = .13, P = .007, 95% CI [0.022, 0.134]) were also the only varia-bles that were statistically significant in predicting femoral BMD. Race was not a significant predictor of spinal or femoral BMD. CONCLUSION It is imperative for both African-American and Caucasian women to engage in osteoporosis-preventive behaviors.