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So help me understand this
when someone says they gained 5 % or whatever on the Bone mass or Dexa score just how much improvement is that on the point scale score?
Is a 10% gain the same as going from a -2.5 to a - 1.5? how does the percentage of improvement correlate to the dexa score?
The percentage of improvement in the raw score can be quite different from the gain in the DEXA score. To confuse the matter further, some people talk about their percentage of improvement in the DEXA score, which is meaningless. (A DEXA score change from -0.4 to -0.2 would be a slight improvement in raw score, but the person might claim a "50% improvement in bone density score".)
Thanks Pika
I agree there seems to be no standard or a way to really tell what is helping and to what degree. I am glad it was not just me.
Too bad we don't just get raw improvement in Dexa scores with no percentages.
You can usually get the raw score just by asking for it. The raw score is what the scientists use, because it is an absolute figure. The T-score is for doctors and patients, because it has more practical value. The 2005 study "Large meta-analysis validates utility of BMD in predicting fracture" found that risk of hip fracture increased by near 3-fold for every standard-deviation decrease (which is what T-scores and Z-scores are based on). So people with a score of -2.0 have 3 times the risk of hip fracture as people with -1.0, and people with a score of -3.0 have 9 times the risk of hip fracture as people with -1.0. Reducing your hip score by 1 point will seemingly reduce your hip fracture risk by 66%.
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