Association between self-perceived health, physical activity, and BMD in middle-aged men and women

• Published in: The Open bone journal 2011 (3), p.6
• Main Authors: Tervo, Taru, Nordström, Peter, Nordström, Anna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1876-5254; 1876-5254
• DOI: 10.2174/1876525401103010006

Background : Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease that affects one out of every two women and one out of every five men. The clinical significance of this disease lies in the associated increased risk of fractures that mainly affect the femoral neck, spine, and wrist. One of the strongest risk factors for low-energy fractures is low bone mineral density (BMD, g/cm2). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between BMD, self-perceived health, and lifestyle factors in a well-defined cohort of middle-aged men and women. Methods : The Västerbotten Intervention Project (VIP) is a study that has been ongoing in Västerbotten since 1985. All people in Västerbotten who are 40, 50 and 60 years of age are offered a comprehensive health survey in which a questionnaire is completed and blood pressure and blood lipids are measured. BMD has been measured in the Sports Medicine Unit in Umeå since 1991. As of December 31, 2006, 4,333 women and 2,320 men had been evaluated.  Of these, 1,595 were examined as part of the VIP before their BMD was measured, and these subjects included in the present study.   Results : The mean age of the investigated cohort was 57 years (range 30-74). After adjusting for age, weight, sex, and follow-up time, self-perceived health (Beta = 0.08, p<0.001), training[ED1]  (Beta = 0.11, p<0.001), snow shoveling (Beta = 0.07, p=0.001), and smoking more than 15 cigarettes per day (Beta =- 0.05, p=0.04) were found to be related to femoral neck BMD. Only self-perceived health, age, and weight were found to be related to spine BMD. Self-perceived health was found to be related to some of the lifestyle factors that were significantly related to BMD, such as training (r = 0.14, p <0.001) and snow shoveling (Beta = 0.15, p <0.001). Conclusion : In this cohort study, several lifestyle factors related to self-perceived health were also found to be related to bone mineral density in a well-defined cohort of middle-aged men and women.