Total hip BMD
Also called: hip bone density, total hip T-score
What it means
Total hip BMD is the average bone density measured across your whole hip joint on a DEXA scan, used to help diagnose osteopenia or osteoporosis and track bone health over time.
Hip bone density is a key number doctors use to assess your fracture risk and decide how closely to monitor or treat your bones.
Total hip BMD measures bone density across the whole hip region, including the femoral neck, the ball of the hip joint (femoral head), and the greater trochanter, rather than just one spot. DEXA scanners calculate this as an average, which tends to be a stable, reproducible number that doctors like to track over time.
Your total hip T-score compares your result to a healthy young adult of the same sex. A T-score of -1.0 or above is normal, -1.0 to -2.5 is osteopenia (low bone mass), and -2.5 or below is osteoporosis. These are the same WHO cutoffs used at the spine.
Doctors often use total hip BMD alongside lumbar spine BMD and femoral neck BMD because bone density can differ between sites. Your total hip number, combined with other risk factors, also feeds into tools like FRAX to estimate your 10-year fracture risk. Your doctor is the right person to interpret your report and discuss next steps.
Hip bone density is a key number doctors use to judge fracture risk and guide monitoring or treatment.
Where this leads
WordTotal hip BMD comes from a specific test, so what is that test actually like? A DEXA scan is a low-radiation X-ray that measures bone mineral and gives you a T-score.
Related words
A DEXA scan is a low-radiation X-ray test that measures how much mineral is in your hip and spine bones, giving you…
A T-score shows how your bone density compares to a healthy young adult, measured in standard deviations, and it's…
The femoral neck is the angled part of bone joining your hip ball to your thigh bone shaft, and it's the most common…
Lumbar spine BMD is a measurement of bone density in the lower spine, usually vertebrae L1 to L4, taken during a…
FRAX is a free online tool that calculates your 10-year probability of having a major osteoporotic fracture or hip…
Osteopenia means your bone density, as measured by a DEXA scan, is lower than average but not as low as osteoporosis…
Education only, not medical advice. Decisions about tests, medications and treatment belong with your own doctor. OsteoStrong does not diagnose, treat or cure any disease.
