The OSTA score, worked out.
Singapore’s national screening committee does not recommend a bone-density scan for everyone. For Asian women it starts with a risk score called OSTA: age in years minus weight in kilograms. The score decides whether a DEXA scan is worth doing.
The three bands
| OSTA score | Risk | What the committee recommends |
|---|---|---|
| Below 0 | Low | No bone-density scan, unless there are other strong clinical reasons for one. |
| 0 to 20 | Moderate | A bone-density scan if any other risk factor for osteoporosis is present (listed below). |
| Above 20 | High | A bone-density scan. |
For example, a 60-year-old woman who weighs 52 kg scores 60 − 52 = 8: moderate risk.
When to check, and who it is for
From age 50, or from menopause if that comes first. The committee suggests repeating the assessment every 5 years.
OSTA was developed for, and is used only for, Asian women. For women of other ethnicities the committee points to a related tool (OST) with its own thresholds, or a doctor’s judgement.
For men there is no recommended risk score. The committee advises a risk assessment from 65 based on the clinical and lifestyle factors below, with a scan at the doctor’s discretion, repeated every 5 years.
Other risk factors for osteoporosis
- Early menopause (natural or surgical) before 45, or more than a year without periods before menopause
- Long-term medicines that thin bone, such as steroids (above prednisolone 7.5 mg a day for over 6 months), excess thyroxine, anticonvulsants, proton pump inhibitors, aromatase inhibitors or GnRH therapy
- Ongoing conditions such as diabetes, an overactive thyroid or parathyroid, Cushing’s syndrome, chronic lung, liver or kidney disease, malabsorption, rheumatoid arthritis, an organ transplant or anorexia nervosa
- Long periods of immobility, poor health, frailty or muscle loss (sarcopenia)
- Smoking
- More than 1 unit of alcohol a day for women, or 2 for men
- Low calcium intake: under 800 mg a day up to age 50, or under 1,000 mg from 51
- Not enough regular physical activity
- A low body mass index
- A parent, brother or sister with osteoporosis or a fragility fracture (especially your mother)
- Older age
Not recommended for osteoporosis screening
The committee lists blood calcium, ESR, blood phosphate and heel ultrasound (quantitative ultrasound of the calcaneum) as Category 3: not recommended for screening.
What this page does not do. It does not diagnose osteoporosis. A score only says whether a scan is likely to be useful; only a bone-density scan measures bone, and a doctor weighs the result against your history. Read the disclaimer.
Source: Screening Test Review Committee report 2026, Volume 1 (Academy of Medicine Singapore and Ministry of Health, February 2026), Tables 2E(i), 2E(iia), 2E(iib) and 2E(iii).
The scan itself: DEXA, graded → · What a DEXA scan costs →