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Determining osteoporosis risk in older C olono adults from rural A mazonian E cuador using calcaneal ultrasonometry
Author(s) -
Madimenos Felicia C.,
Liebert Melissa A.,
CeponRobins Tara J.,
Snodgrass J. Josh,
Sugiyama Lawrence S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.22626
Subject(s) - hum , osteoporosis , heel , epidemiology , medicine , anthropometry , bone density , demography , environmental health , anatomy , art , sociology , performance art , art history
Objective Low bone density and osteoporosis prevalence, while well‐documented in wealthy nations, are poorly studied in rural, non‐clinical contexts in economically developing regions such as Latin America. This study contributes preliminary osteoporosis risk data for a rural Colono (mestizo) population from Amazonian Ecuador. Methods Anthropometrics were collected for 119 adult participants (74 females, 45 males [50–90 years old]). Heel bone density and T ‐scores were recorded using calcaneal ultrasonometry Results Approximately, 33.6% of the participants had low bone density and were at high‐risk for osteoporosis. Four times as many females as males were considered high‐risk. Consistent with epidemiological literature, advancing age was significantly associated with lower bone density values ( P = 0.001). Conclusions Low bone density and osteoporosis prevalence are expected to increase in this and other economically transitioning populations, yet infrastructure to monitor this changing epidemiological landscape is almost non‐existent. Human biologists are uniquely positioned to contribute data from remote populations, a critical step toward initiating increased resource allocation for diagnosis and prevention. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 27:139–142, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.