Nomenclature and decimal places in bone densitometry

Abstract

There are inconsistencies in densitometry nomenclature and in the use of decimal places in reporting bone density results. These issues were discussed at the 2003 Position Development Conference (PDC) of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD). Regarding nomenclature, there was agreement that DXA is the preferred designation for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. T-score (not T score, t score, or tscore) is the preferred designation for the standard deviation variance of bone mineral density (BMD) from the mean BMD of the young adult reference population. Z-score terminology should be consistent with that for T-score. For the reporting of bone densitometry results, BMD should be expressed to three decimal places, bone mineral content and area to two decimal places, T-scores and Z-scores to one decimal place, and percentages (percentage of reference population mean BMD) as integers.