Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Belgium.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2011 Apr;35 Suppl 1:S125-30. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2011.44.
Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) is a quick, non-invasive and inexpensive method to measure bone strength. Moreover, the device is portable, which makes it easy to be used in the field. In contrast to other bone measuring techniques, QUS does not use any ionised radiation. However, the validity of QUS in the measurement of bone health and the relationship between QUS output and body composition have not been assessed in very young children.
To investigate the relationship between paediatric calcaneal QUS and both dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and calcaneal DXA with laser (DXL) and body composition parameters.
A total of 37 Belgian children (10 boys and 27 girls; 4 to 8 years old) underwent a calcaneal QUS as well as a DXA scan. A total of 24 Swedish children (15 boys and 9 girls; 3 to 5 years old) underwent a calcaneal QUS as well as a heel DXL scan. The height and weight of all children were measured.
The QUS stiffness index (SI) was significantly negatively correlated with bone mineral density (BMD) of the total body (r=-0.370, P=0.02). No significant correlations were found between the SI and DXL results. In the total sample, the SI showed a significant positive correlation with body mass index (BMI) (r=0.298, P=0.02), even after correction for age, gender and centre. In the Belgian sample, the SI was also significantly positively correlated with total body fat mass content (r=0.416, P=0.01) and body fat percentage (r=0.566, P<0.01) obtained by whole-body DXA.
The SI measured by QUS does not correlate significantly with BMD values measured by DXA or DXL in 3- to 8-year-old children. However, there is a significant positive correlation between SI and BMI and body fat %.
定量超声（QUS）是一种快速、非侵入性且价格低廉的测量骨骼强度的方法。此外，该设备体积小巧，便于在现场使用。与其他骨骼测量技术不同，QUS 不使用任何电离辐射。然而，QUS 在测量儿童骨骼健康方面的有效性以及 QUS 输出与身体成分之间的关系尚未在非常年幼的儿童中得到评估。
研究儿童跟骨 QUS 与双能 X 射线吸收法（DXA）和跟骨激光 DXA（DXL）以及身体成分参数之间的关系。
37 名比利时儿童（男 10 名，女 27 名；4 至 8 岁）接受了跟骨 QUS 检查和 DXA 扫描。24 名瑞典儿童（男 15 名，女 9 名；3 至 5 岁）接受了跟骨 QUS 检查和跟骨 DXL 扫描。所有儿童的身高和体重均进行了测量。
QUS 硬度指数（SI）与全身骨密度（BMD）呈显著负相关（r=-0.370，P=0.02）。SI 与 DXL 结果之间无显著相关性。在总样本中，SI 与体重指数（BMI）呈显著正相关（r=0.298，P=0.02），即使在校正年龄、性别和中心后也是如此。在比利时样本中，SI 与全身脂肪质量含量（r=0.416，P=0.01）和全身 DXA 测量的体脂百分比（r=0.566，P<0.01）也呈显著正相关。
在 3 至 8 岁儿童中，QUS 测量的 SI 与 DXA 或 DXL 测量的 BMD 值无显著相关性。然而，SI 与 BMI 和体脂百分比之间存在显著正相关。
