Rheumatology Medical News about Postmenopausal, Height loss, Vertebral fractures

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Relationship between historical height loss and vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women
Clinical Rheumatology, 08/21/09

Bennani L et al. – Data demonstrate significant positive associations between historical height loss (HHL), vertebral fractures (VF), number of VF, and grade of VF. However, this relationship is not clinically pertinent; HHL cannot be used as a reliable clinical test for detecting VF in postmenopausal Moroccan women.

Methods

Main objectives of this study were to:
- Evaluate the relationship between HHL and prevalent VF in postmenopausal Moroccan women, and
- Estimate its accuracy as a clinical test for detecting VF
288 postmenopausal women; all subjects had bone density measurements and spinal radiographs
Vertebral bodies (T4–L4) were graded using the semi-quantitative method of Genant
HHL was calculated as the difference between a pt’s tallest recalled height and the current measured height

Results

Mean age was 58.4±7.8 yrs; 31% of pts were osteoporotic, and 46.5% had VF
Patients with VF had lost more height than those w/o VF
Univariate analysis: HHL was positively correlated to both number and grade of prevalent VF
The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the ability of HHL to detect VF was 0.60
HHL threshold for detecting VF was >1.5 cm, its sensitivity was 58%, and its specificity was 61%
The positive predictive value was 53%, and the negative predictive value was 65%
With HHL >1.5 cm, positive likelihood ratio was 1.49 with 95% CI, 1.07, 2.06

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