Osteoporosis Risk Calculator
Estimate OST for adults and the sex-specific SCORE or MORES screening score from age, weight, and the published clinical factors.
About you
Use completed years and current body weight. The example is ready to calculate and export.
Selects SCORE for women or MORES for men; OST is shown for both.
Whole years, 18 to 120.
Plain decimal or standard thousands grouping; scientific notation is not accepted.
Changing units converts the current weight value.
Historical SCORE factor: 0 points for Black; 5 points for other categories.
Counts the published SCORE fracture category.
A confirmed history adds 4 SCORE points.
No prior use adds 1 SCORE point in the published model.
A history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease adds 3 MORES points.
Live results
Screening scores indicate relative risk bands; they do not diagnose osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool
– 1
Moderate risk
SCORE
17
High risk
Weight used by OST
59.9 kg
132.0 lb
OST – 1, moderate risk. SCORE 17, high risk.
Score breakdown
SCORE combines four categorical factors with age and weight terms.
| Component | Current value | Score contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Other | 5.0 |
| Fracture history | 1 non-traumatic fracture | 4.0 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | No | 0.0 |
| Prior estrogen use | No | 1.0 |
| Age term | 67 years | 20.1 |
| Weight term | 132.0 lb | – 13.2 |
| Total | Raw 16.9 → displayed 17 | 17 |
How to use this Osteoporosis Risk Calculator
What this calculator does
This calculator estimates three published osteoporosis screening scores. OST, the Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool, uses age and body weight and is shown for both sexes. For women, SCORE adds ethnicity, non-traumatic fracture history, rheumatoid arthritis, and prior estrogen use. For men, MORES adds age and weight bands plus COPD history. These are prescreening tools designed to help identify people who may merit bone mineral density evaluation; they do not measure bone density and cannot diagnose osteoporosis. A DXA bone mineral density test is the standard clinical test used to measure bone density. The NIH explains how bone mineral density tests and T-scores are interpreted.
When to use it
Use the calculator when you want to reproduce these historical screening scores for an educational or clinical-reference workflow, compare how age and weight affect OST, review the published SCORE factors for a postmenopausal woman, or review the MORES screening rule for a man. It is also useful for checking a score before discussing whether formal screening criteria apply. Current screening decisions should be based on up-to-date guidance and the full clinical context rather than on one score alone.
How to calculate
- The calculator opens with a complete demonstration: Female, 67 years, 132 lb, Other ethnicity, 1 non-traumatic fracture, no rheumatoid arthritis, and no prior estrogen use. The example results and a validated Excel workbook are available immediately.
- Choose Sex. Female activates SCORE inputs; Male activates the MORES COPD input. OST remains available in either mode.
- Replace Your age and Your weight. Use Weight unit to switch between pounds and kilograms; the current value is converted rather than merely relabeled.
- Complete the sex-specific fields. For Female, set Ethnicity, Fracture history, Rheumatoid arthritis, and Prior estrogen use. For Male, set COPD.
- Read OST score and OST risk, then the current sex-specific score and sex-specific risk. The score breakdown table shows the additive terms that produce SCORE or MORES.
- Select Download Excel to create a workbook from the current validated inputs. Reset clears the demonstration data and calculated content; Download Excel is then disabled until a complete valid state is entered again.
Input guide
Sex is required and accepts Female or Male. It determines which published sex-specific tool is calculated; it does not change the OST formula itself, but it changes the OST risk-band thresholds used here. Your age is required as a whole number from 18 to 120 years; 67 is a realistic example. Higher age generally lowers OST and increases the age contribution in SCORE or MORES. Avoid decimals, scientific notation, or an age outside the accepted range. Your weight is required and may be entered as a plain decimal such as 132 or with standard comma thousands grouping. A decimal point is used; ambiguous decimal-comma text is rejected. The accepted adult-weight domain is 20 to 500 kg after conversion. Higher weight raises OST, lowers SCORE through its negative weight term, and may lower MORES by moving to a lower point band. Weight unit is required and may be lb or kg; changing it converts the value and all calculations use the corresponding canonical weight.
For Female, Ethnicity is required because the published SCORE model assigns 0 points to Black or African American and 5 points to Other. This race-based term reflects the historical model and should not be interpreted as a biological diagnosis. Fracture history is required and accepts None or traumatic fracture, 1 non-traumatic fracture, 2 non-traumatic fractures, or 3+ non-traumatic fractures; the published contributions are 0, 4, 8, and 12 points. Rheumatoid arthritis is required as Yes or No; Yes contributes 4 points. Prior estrogen use is required as Yes or No; No contributes 1 point while Yes contributes 0. For Male, COPD is required as Yes or No; Yes contributes 3 MORES points. A diagnosis should not be inferred from symptoms for the purpose of filling these fields.
Output guide
OST score is a whole-number presentation of 0.2 × (weight in kg – age). Higher values generally indicate lower screening risk. OST risk applies the reference bands: for women, above 1 is Low risk, – 3 through 1 is Moderate risk, and below – 3 is High risk; for men, above 3 is Low risk, – 1 through 3 is Moderate risk, and below – 1 is High risk. The second result card is labeled SCORE for women or MORES for men. sex-specific score is the corresponding whole-number score, while sex-specific risk is its reference band. SCORE below 7 is Low risk, 7 through 15 is Moderate risk, and above 15 is High risk. MORES below 6 is Low risk and 6 or higher is High risk. The header pills repeat the active tool, OST risk, and whether the current input set is complete. The score breakdown table columns – Component, Current value, and Score contribution – show the exact categorical band or formula term and its points. These outputs are screening estimates, not bone-density measurements.
Worked example
With the startup example, 132 lb converts to about 59.9 kg. OST uses (59.9 – 67) ÷ 5 ≈ – 1.4, displayed as – 1, which is Moderate risk for a woman. SCORE adds 5 points for Other ethnicity, 4 for one non-traumatic fracture, 0 for no rheumatoid arthritis, 1 for no prior estrogen use, 20.1 from 3 × 67 ÷ 10, and – 13.2 from 132 ÷ 10. The raw total is 16.9, displayed as 17, which falls in the High risk SCORE band. The same typed values are used in the first-open results, score breakdown, and Excel workbook.
Learn more
The 2025 USPSTF clinician summary on osteoporosis screening recommends screening women 65 years or older and using clinical risk assessment to identify increased-risk postmenopausal women younger than 65 for DXA; it states that evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening men. That current recommendation is broader than the historical scoring rules reproduced here.
How the scoring models work
OST is intentionally simple: age moves the score downward and body weight moves it upward. The published OST literature describes it as a way to identify people who may be at increased risk of low bone density and therefore candidates for further evaluation. A review of the OST screening tool in men describes the same age-and-weight formula and emphasizes its role in selecting patients for DXA rather than diagnosing osteoporosis.
SCORE was developed as a six-factor questionnaire for postmenopausal women. Its calculation adds the categorical risk-factor points, adds 0.3 times age, and subtracts one-tenth of body weight in pounds. The original SCORE development and validation study reports that the questionnaire was designed to identify women likely to have low bone density so that densitometry could be targeted more efficiently. Because the historical SCORE includes a race/ethnicity term, use it as a reproduction of the published model rather than as a statement that race itself is a direct biological cause.
MORES is a point score for men using age, weight, and COPD history. In this implementation, age 56 – 74 contributes 3 points and age 75 or older contributes 4; weight under 157 lb contributes 6 points, 157 – 176 lb contributes 4, and higher weight contributes 0; COPD adds 3. A score of 6 or more is the High risk band. The MORES comparison study evaluated the score as a strategy for identifying men who might benefit from DXA testing.