Screening for bone loss in older adults can be done as infrequently as every five years, according to Canadian researchers who looked at 9,423 people, ages 25 to 85.

They found that women ages 50 to 54 had the most pronounced bone loss of all the participants -- 1.3 percent. The researchers said this decrease is within the margin of error of most bone density screening machines, which means that amount of bone loss is not as significant as previously believed, CBC News reported.

"The extent of bone loss that we observed suggests that repeat measurements of bone density could be delayed to intervals of up to five years in the absence of other risk factors," the researchers wrote.

Their findings was published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.