ASBMR, San Diego, 2011;
pQCT measures of bone and muscle are independently associated with falls in women – a principal components analysis
Year: 2011
Wong AKO, Bhargava A, Beattie KA, Gordon CL, Pickard L, Webber CE, Papaioannou A, Adachi JD
Dept of Medical Sciences; Dept of Medicine; Dept of Nuclear Medicine - McMaster University; Dept of Medicine, Hamilton Health Sciences; Hamilton, ON, Canada
Abstract
BACKGROUND:falling is often a first step to generate sufficient energy for a fragility fracture fallers have been associated with poor muscle strength and low vitamin D levels fat within muscle has been suggested to reduce physical function leading to reduced torque acting on bone mid-shaft of lower leg experiences bending forces led by stabilizing muscle groups during gait and balancing with falls plantarflexor muscle volume previously shown to explain 64% of mid-tibial bone strength (Rantalainen et al, 2008)
METHODOLOGY:
Intended population: Women = 50 years of age belonging to the local Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos) Hamilton, Ontario site were invited to participate.
CaMos is an ongoing, prospective cohort study of 9423 community-dwelling, randomly selected women & men = 25 years of age at 9 Canadian cities. The original cohort was recruited in 1996-1997 through scientific random selection using residential telephone lists. CaMos objectives, methodology and sampling framework were detailed elsewhere (Kreiger et al. 1999, Can J Aging 18(3):12).
Primary outcome: Falls (yes/no) in last 12 months obtained from the CaMos database.
SUMMARY & CONCLUSION:
Bone endosteal and periosteal geometry plus muscle morphometry at the mid-calf enables identification of fallers
A poorer bone geometry may be indicative of a low degree of bone adaptation, reflecting low muscle torque resulting from high muscle fat – together predisposing individuals for falls
Meanwhile, bone geometry alone appeared to identify fallers independently of muscle morphometry
Having high muscle fat not only prevents adequate strength for balance during falls, but may result in poorer bone quality that could be associated with higher fracture risk
Keywords: Muslce Density, Falls
GID: 2744; Last update: 21.09.2011
