ABSTRACT

Background: The ageing process causes changes in the bone structure, in bone mineral density, and musculoskeletal disorders.

Aims: The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare involutive changes in bone structure that occur in relation to age in men and women through the study of bone mineral density at the Ward’s triangle and trabecular volume.

Subjects and Methods: In this study, we analysed bone mineral density at Ward's triangle in 70 people (38 men and 32 women) and did a histomorphometric study of trabecular volume at the right iliac crest in 66 samples (42 males and 24 females) obtained from autopsies of court cases, aged between 13 and 83 years.

Results: The results show significant correlations between measurements of bone mineral density, trabecular volume values and anthropometric measures of age, gender and body mass index.

Conclusions: This study shows involutional changes that occur in the bone mineral density and Ward's triangle in the bone structure during the process of ageing. In addition, both weight and height have a great influence on bone mineral density and changes in bone that occur; and body mass index is a very important determinant of bone mineral density.