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A 1-year combined weight-bearing training program is beneficial for bone mineral density and neuromuscular function in older women

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Abstract

Forty-eight community living women 66–87 years old volunteered to participate in a 12-month prospective, randomized, controlled, trial. The aim was to determine if a combined weight-bearing training program twice a week would be beneficial to bone mineral density and neuromuscular function. The participants were pairwise age-matched and randomly assigned to either an exercise group (n=24) or a control group (n=24). Twenty-one subjects in the intervention group and 19 in the control group completed the study. The exercise program lasted for 50 min and consisted of a combination of strengthening, aerobic, balance and coordination exercises. The mean percentage of scheduled sessions attended for the exercise group was 67%. At the completion of the study, the intervention group showed significant increments in bone mineral density of the Ward’s triangle (8.4%, P<0.01) as well as improvement in maximum walking speed (11.4%, P<0.001) and isometric grip strength (9.9%, P<0.05), as compared to the control group. The conclusion was that a combined weight-bearing training program might reduce fracture risk factors by improving bone density as well as muscle strength and walking ability. This program could be suitable for older community living women in general, and might, therefore, have important implications for fracture prevention.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the late Dr Eva Gagerman, who was the main initiating force in this study. Without her the study would not have been accomplished. We would also like to thank Professor Ronny Lorentzon for valuable advice, research assistant Torsten Sandström for skillful bone density measurements, and the dieticians Britt-Marie Nyberg and Maine Carlsson for calculating the dietary intake. Special thanks to the physiotherapists Erik Rosendahl, Åsa Karlsson, Ulrica Radsjö, and Anna Åström for supervising the exercise classes. This study was supported by grants from the Borgerskapet in Umeå Research foundation, Gun and Bertil Stohnes’ foundation and funds of the Faculty of Medicine at Umeå University, Sweden.

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Correspondence to Undis Englund.

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Englund, U., Littbrand, H., Sondell, A. et al. A 1-year combined weight-bearing training program is beneficial for bone mineral density and neuromuscular function in older women. Osteoporos Int 16, 1117–1123 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-004-1821-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-004-1821-0

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