DO CHILDREN WITH FRACTURES HAVE LOW BONE MINERAL DENSITY?
JE Metcalfe; MW Davie; and SM Hay Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry SY10 7AG To investigate whether children with fractures have a low bone mineral density, 109 children (46 female and 63 male) aged 10.5 ± 2.9 years (range 5 16) sustaining either a single fracture (n=60 patients) or multiple fractures (n=49 patients) had Bone Mineral Density measurements [BMD] (Hologic QDR4500A) of L2 to L4. The Z score {(Patient s BMD mean aged related BMD)/ standard deviation of that age group)} was calculated using two previously published data from Shropshire children and American children. A z score of zero indicates that the patients BMD is exactly on the mean. The proportion above and below zero and was compared using the binomial theorem. Comparison of frequencies between the groups was undertaken using the Chi 2 test. In a scatter plot of z score against age, low z scores were frequent in girls under 8yrs using both reference data. In this group BMD z score was more li
