Osteoporosis is diagnosed with which test?

• A. DEXA scan
• B. X-ray
• C. BMD (bone mineral density) test
• D. Blood test

Answer: (C)

Osteoporosis is diagnosed by measuring how dense the bones are, not by looking for fractures or by a blood test. The test that does this directly is the bone mineral density (BMD) test. It quantifies how much mineral is in your bones, usually at key sites like the spine and hip, and provides a numerical score used to determine osteoporosis. DEXA is the common method used to perform a BMD test, giving the density values and guiding the diagnosis. X-rays can show existing fractures but aren’t sensitive enough to detect early bone loss, and blood tests don’t measure bone density themselves. So the BMD test is the appropriate choice because it directly assesses bone density to diagnose osteoporosis.