What is a DEXA scan, and when do women need one?
A DEXA scan is a bone density test in which you lie on a flat table for about 10 to 20 minutes while a scanning arm passes over your hip and lower spine; the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF, 2025) recommends it for women from 65, or earlier after menopause when risk factors are present, and in the UK the NHS offers it to people over 50 with a risk of osteoporosis. It is arranged through your primary care provider or OB-GYN (your GP in the UK), a covered scan costs $0 with Medicare Part B when the provider accepts assignment, and it is one of the more straightforward health checks for women to plan for.
If a bone density exam has come up at an appointment, or you are wondering whether to ask about one, that is a sensible thing to have on your mind. A DEXA scan (also written DXA) needs no special preparation, and it gives a result called a T-score, often read with FRAX, a fracture risk score. Here is who the evidence supports scanning, how often, and what is left for you and your provider to decide.
What is a DEXA scan?
In the US you will usually hear a DEXA scan called a bone density test, a bone density examination or a DXA scan. In the UK it is a bone density scan, carried out by a radiographer. The words differ, and the test is the same.
The result comes back as a T-score. On its own, that number describes your bones on the day of the scan. It is a measurement, not a verdict, which is why it is rarely read alone.
FRAX is its usual companion. It estimates your chance of a broken bone over the next 10 years, and a provider can use it in a clinical risk assessment, either before a scan or once the result is in. Bone density exams are not something you pass or fail. They give you and your provider a shared starting point.
Who does the evidence support scanning, and why?
The evidence supports screening for two groups of women, and the USPSTF (2025) is the main US source. Women 65 and older are screened with central DXA. Postmenopausal women under 65 are screened when a clinical risk assessment shows an increased risk of fracture, and that recommendation carries a grade B.
The details a provider commonly asks about in that assessment are early menopause, steroid use, a family history of hip fracture and smoking. No single one settles the question. They are weighed together, which is why the same detail can matter more for one woman than for another, and none of them is a judgment on how you have lived. If one applies to you, it is worth mentioning, so that a test for bone density can be timed to be useful.
In the UK the starting point is a little different. Alongside its offer to the over-50s, the NHS also scans people under 50 who have risk factors such as smoking or a previous broken bone, and it uses the result alongside a fracture risk assessment.
Why screen at all? Because osteoporosis is common in later life. The USPSTF reports that 27.1% of women 65 and older have osteoporosis, compared with 5.7% of men the same age. Knowing where you stand gives you and your provider something concrete to plan around when you talk about osteoporosis.
A broken bone after a minor fall or bump is a different matter from routine screening. The NHS counts a previous broken bone as a reason to scan even before 50, so this is a clear moment to see a doctor and ask about a scan soon, whatever your age.
How often should you have a DEXA scan?
There is no single schedule. The USPSTF (2025) gives no screening interval, so after a first scan the usual approach is to repeat it as your provider advises. A good moment to ask is when you get your result: when would a repeat add something?
Coverage sets a practical rhythm for many women in the US. Medicare Part B covers a bone mass measurement once every 24 months, or more often if medically necessary, for people who meet at least one of five conditions. In the UK, an NHS scan is arranged by referral.
Many women like to read the result alongside a plan for falls prevention, which looks at staying steady on your feet, so the number becomes part of everyday life and not something to worry over.
What did the USPSTF review show, and what did it leave open?
The USPSTF's 2025 statement is firm on who is offered screening and deliberately loose on how risk is judged. Its scope is adults 40 and older, so it is not a statement about bone health in the decades before that.
For the step before a scan, it names two short scoring tools: the Osteoporosis Self-assessment Tool (OST) and the Osteoporosis Risk Assessment Instrument (ORAI). Each turns a few details about you into a single number, and the USPSTF lists the scores that point toward a scan: below 2 on the OST, and 9 or higher on the ORAI.
FRAX is treated differently. It has no set screening threshold, and it is meant to inform the decision about a DXA scan, not to act as a strict cutoff. That leaves real room for judgment, so it is reasonable to ask which tool was used for you, what it scored, and how that fed into the decision.
DEXA scan and FRAX by life stage
| Stage | Figure | Why | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Childhood | No routine scan | Bone density screening is a check for later life. | Health checks |
| Puberty | No routine scan | The USPSTF recommendation begins with adults 40 and older. | Health checks |
| Reproductive years | By risk only (UK: under 50 with risk factors such as smoking or a previous broken bone) | US screening guidance starts after menopause; the NHS scans earlier when risk factors are present. | Health checks |
| Perimenopause | Not yet routine: from 65, or earlier after menopause with risk factors | A useful time to note details such as steroid use or smoking, ready for a later conversation. | Health checks |
| Menopause | Earlier than 65 with risk factors; T-score plus a FRAX score | Early menopause is itself one of the risk factors worth mentioning. | Health checks |
| Postmenopause | From 65; repeat as advised (UK: over 50 with a risk of osteoporosis) | The T-score is read with your 10-year fracture risk. | Health checks |
Guidance by country
Facts
Common questions
How to bone density test?
A good place to start is your primary care provider or OB-GYN (your GP in the UK), who can arrange the referral. It helps to bring a few dates: when your periods stopped, any courses of steroids, any broken bones, and whether a parent broke a hip. Those details feed the risk assessment.
How bone density scan is done?
You will be asked to remove clothing with metal fasteners, so many women wear something without zippers or hooks on the day. No other preparation is needed. The forearm is sometimes scanned in place of the hip and lower spine. If you are unsure about anything, the person running the scan can talk you through each step before it starts.
How much for DEXA scan?
Medicare Part B covers a scan when you meet at least one qualifying condition, such as being an estrogen-deficient woman at risk of osteoporosis, steroid use, or monitoring of osteoporosis treatment. With other US coverage, your plan can tell you your share before you book. In the UK, an NHS scan comes by GP referral, while private clinics set their own fees, so it is worth asking for the full price first.
Where to get DEXA scan?
The office that refers you is the best guide: your primary care provider or OB-GYN in the US, or your GP for an NHS scan in the UK, where a private clinic is the other route. Two useful questions are whether the site accepts Medicare assignment or your plan, and how the result will reach you.
How bone density test done?
It runs in three parts. First comes a risk assessment, based on your age and history. Then comes the scan itself. Afterward your provider reads the T-score, often together with a FRAX score, and talks through what it means for you. You are welcome to ask for the result in writing, and how long it will take to arrive.
Next steps
If the age or risk factors described here sound like you, a good place to start is asking whether a DEXA scan fits now, and what a FRAX score might add. If not, there is nothing you need to do today beyond knowing the option is there. Anything on the red-flag list is worth raising sooner. Your history, coverage and preferences all shape the timing, so you decide what fits: this is not one size fits all.
See a doctor promptly if you have
- unexplained weight loss
- symptoms that are getting worse
Sources
The guidelines and studies this page draws on.
- Screening for Osteoporosis to Prevent Fractures: USPSTF Recommendation Statement, US Preventive Services Task Force (2025)
- DEXA scan (overview), NHS (2026)
- DEXA scan: what happens, NHS (2026)
- Bone mass measurements, Medicare.gov (CMS) (2026)