Medical diagnoses that may help facilitate insurance coverage of bone mineral density testing include estrogen deficiency, a clinical risk for osteoporosis, long-term glucocorticoid therapy, primary hyperparathyroidism, monitoring of an accepted osteoporosis treatment, or a known skeletal abnormality or previous fracture. Focus on the T-score. The T-score compares the patient's bone mineral density with that of young adults of the same gender. The result is reported as the number of standard deviations above or below the mean for young adults of the same gender. Screening motivates women to focus on bone health.
Osteoporosis often is a silent disease.
Prior to a clinically significant fracture, it may be a challenge to motivate some women to focus on their bone health. However, women who are diagnosed with osteoporosis after undergoing bone mineral density testing often develop and implement effective management and treatment plans in partnership with their clinicians. The researchers randomized patients in a defined geographic area to an osteoporosis screening via BMD testing group or to a usual care group. For the women who were screened and who had a low bone mineral density, chronic use of hormone replacement therapy was greater than in the group of patients who did not receive screening. Prevention and the primacy of vitamin D and calcium.