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Age trends of bone mineral density and percentile curves in healthy Chinese children and adolescents

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Abstract

The clinical utility of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurement requires appropriate normative values, designed to be diverse with respect to age, gender and ethnic background. The purpose of this study was to generate age-related trends for bone density in Chinese children and adolescents, and to establish a gender-specific reference database. A total of 1,541 Chinese children and adolescents aged from 5 to 19-years were recruited from southern China. Bone mineral density (BMD), bone mineral content (BMC), and bone area (BA) were measured for the total body (TB) and total body less head (TBLH). The height-for-age, height-for-BA, and BMC-for-BA percentile curves were developed using the least mean square method. TB BMD and TBLH BMD were highly correlated. After 18 years, TB BMD was significantly higher in boys than girls. For TB BMC and TBLH BMC, gender differences were found in age groups 12 years and 16–19 years; however, the TBLH BMD was significantly different between genders >16 years. The head region accounted for 13–52 and 16–49 % of the TB BMC in boys and girls, respectively. Furthermore, the percentages were negatively correlated with age and height. This study describes a gender-specific reference database for Chinese children and adolescents aged 5–19 years. These normative values could be used for clinical assessment in this population.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to all participating children and their parents. We are grateful to Dr Qi Zhou, GE Healthcare Shanghai and Dr Jing Xiang, First Hospital of Jiaxing for their useful comments and suggestions. We also thank the staff members of the Department of Nuclear Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University for excellent technical support.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors have any personal or financial conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, No. 613 West Huangpu Road, Guangzhou, 510630, China

    Bin Guo, Jian Gong, Yongjin Tang & Hao Xu

  2. Department of Clinical Medicine, Medical College, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, China

    Yi Xu

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  1. Bin Guo
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  2. Yi Xu
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  3. Jian Gong
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  4. Yongjin Tang
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  5. Hao Xu
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Correspondence to Hao Xu.

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Guo, B., Xu, Y., Gong, J. et al. Age trends of bone mineral density and percentile curves in healthy Chinese children and adolescents. J Bone Miner Metab 31, 304–314 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-012-0401-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-012-0401-1

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