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Hi,
I hope this is not a stupid question but what exactly does -3.8 mean? For some reason, I think (and have told people) that 38% of my spine is gone. Is this accurate? Is there another way of looking at this?
If it is really true, is it as dire as it sounds? Aren't there some other factors at play?
Just trying to get a handle on this.
Thanks so much,
Uma
Uma,
For info on your T Score you might google mayoclinic or webmd and it will explain it for you... there are graphs out there as you want a score of 1 or above to be in normal range... when you start getting into the minus then there is loss of density... you are diagnosed as having Osteo with a -2.5 or lower and most graphs stop at -4.0 . Although it can get lower then that... my doc said the worst score she's dealt with is a -4.2 so hope that helps you... there are threads here discussing the dexa screening and what it means, and yes it was the first thing I wondered about as I have the same T score that you do... grumble grumble...
The T-score represents the "standard deviation" (a statistical term) from the young adult norm. It does not refer to percent.
Kathy and Uma:
Right here -- at the NOF website -- you can find considerable information about BMD score. Click at the right top of the page.
Lucy Buckley PT aka Mother Goose
Thanks everyone, but I am still confused.
When I read something like (quoted from NOF) "For example, a person with a T-score of -2.5 has a 10-15 percent lower BMD than a person with a T-score of -1.5", it sounds to me like with my score of -3.8, I have about 38% (or maybe even a higher %) less density than someone at 0.
If this is not correct, can someone please explain it to me? I would love to have a better way of looking at this that does not sound so dire.
Thanks a lot,
Uma
Uma, this is from wikipedia:
[edit] Interpretation
Results are generally scored by two measures, the T-score and the Z-score. Scores indicate the amount one's bone mineral density varies from the mean. Negative scores indicate lower bone density, and positive scores indicate higher.
[edit] T-score
The T-score is a comparison of a patient's BMD to that of a healthy thirty-year-old of the same sex and ethnicity. This value is used in post-menopausal women and men over aged 50 because it better predicts risk of future fracture.[5] The criteria of the World Health Organization are:[6]
Normal is a T-score of -1.0 or higher
Osteopenia is defined as less than -1.0 and greater than -2.5
Osteoporosis is defined as -2.5 or lower, meaning a bone density that is two and a half standard deviations below the mean of a thirty year old woman.
[edit] Z-score
The Z-score is the number of standard deviations a patient's BMD differ from the average BMD of their age, sex, and ethnicity. This value is used in premenopausal women, men under the age of 50, and in children.[5]
Have any of you seen a model of what a T Score of a
-2.7 looks like?
I took a picture at my Rheumatologist's office... It was on a model for Forteo so I asked the doc what the T Score was.. he informed me of the -2.7 scoring and he teaches the class for injecting the medicine. I have the picture on my home PC and would like to put it here for anyone to see if there were a way to do it... or I guess I could send it as an attachment in a email for anyone who'd like to see it....
"...it sounds to me like with my score of -3.8, I have about 38% (or maybe even a higher %) less density than someone at 0. "
OK, let's see. Looking at the Total Hip chart on the page at http://courses.washington.edu/bonephys/opbmdtz.html
a female with T-score of 0 has a raw score of about 0.9; a female with a T-score of -4 has a raw score of around 0.45, which is 50% lower than someone at 0.
I have a T( comparing me to a 30 yr old) score of -3.8 and a Z score (comparing me to women at my age and weight) with a Z score of -3.3 which I understand to mean that there is likely a secondary reason for my Osteo. Which is why I decided to keep going to docs to find out why... and I did find out it is due to my kidneys...
I did ask for a copy of the Dexa scan for my records at home... and to say that you should try to have your screening done at the same place as a result can vary from machine to machine...
The other thing I noticed is the comparison of bones ... such as saying "I have the bones of a 80 yr old"... I asked my doctor about that as she had never given me that type of description... she smiled and said she didn't like to do that as what can she say to a 50 year old who test come back as comparable to a healthy 25 year old? She said does that mean her bones are comparable? She said no.... so until they come up with a better plan we can only take things as they come and decide on the best treatment for us...
PikaB,
Would this mean half the hip is gone? (gulp)
Also, would this also be true if the -3.8 is the spine and not the hip?
Thanks so much for this site - a lot of info.
Uma
"Would this mean half the hip is gone?" I assume so. Can you say Swiss Cheese?
"Also, would this also be true if the -3.8 is the spine and not the hip?" I assume it would be somewhat similar, but I don't really know. There's probably a spine chart out there on the web somewhere.
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