A T-score of -2.5 indicates which category?

• A. Osteopenia
• B. Severe osteoporosis
• C. Osteoporosis
• D. Normal BMD

Answer: (C)

A T-score measures how many standard deviations your bone mineral density is from the mean of a young healthy reference population, using DXA. It helps classify bone health: normal is around -1.0 or higher, osteopenia ranges roughly from -1.0 down to just above -2.5, and osteoporosis is defined as -2.5 or lower. A T-score of -2.5 sits at the cutoff for osteoporosis, so this result falls into that category. The term severe osteoporosis is used when there is a fragility fracture in addition to a T-score at or below -2.5; if no fracture is mentioned, the classification is osteoporosis.