Patients are urged to closely follow all preparatory recommendations made by their physician. In most cases, such preparation is minimal. For example, patients usually are asked not to take calcium for at least 24 hours prior to the test. Patients also are advised to wear loose clothing without metal belts, buttons or zippers.

Patients are urged to tell their physician if they have recently had a barium examination or if they have been injected with a contrast material during a CAT scan (computed axial tomography) or radionuclide imaging scan. The residue of such injections could interfere with the accuracy of the bone densitometry test. In such situations, patients may be asked to wait several weeks before undergoing bone densitometry.

Women who are pregnant or think they may be pregnant are usually urged not to undergo bone densitometry.