BONE MINERAL DENSITY MEASUREMENT IN ADULT SOMALI POPULATION

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Osteoporosis is a growing public health problem as a consequence of its associated fractures, especially of the proximal femur. Although the focus in the past has been on the problem of osteoporosis in white women, there is an increasing recognition that osteoporotic fractures also pose a threat to other populations. In 1995, for example, 6.5% of the total cost of osteoporotic fractures in this country, $901 million, was due to fractures in nonwhites. However, the epidemiology of bone loss and fractures in populations of African heritage is still poorly known. Epidemiological studies for African nations are primarily focused on infectious diseases. Whether or not osteoporosis represents a potential problem among immigrants and refugees from Africa is unknown. The goal of this proposal is to assess the skeletal status of Olmsted County residents originally from Somalia. We have so far enrolled 70 women from Somalia in this 4-year prospective study to identify risk factors for bone loss in the Somali population for comparison with risk factors for white men and women in the community. When the baseline studies are complete, we plan to compare bone density levels among county residents of Somali origin to those of African-American residents.