Postmenopausal women with osteopenia and a healed wrist fracture have reduced physical function and quality of life compared to a matched, healthy control group with no fracture.

ABSTRACT: Fractures lead to reduced physical function and quality of life (QOL), but little is known about postmenopausal women with osteopenia and a healed wrist fracture. The purpose was to evaluate physical function in terms of quadriceps strength, dynamic balance, physical capacity and QOL in postmenopausal women with osteopenia and a healed wrist fracture compared to a matched, healthy control group with no previous fracture.Eighteen postmenopausal women with osteopenia (patients) (mean age 59.1 years, range 54 - 65) and a healed wrist fracture were matched to 18 healthy control subjects on age (mean age 58.5 years, range 51 - 65), height, weight and body mass index (BMI). We measured quadriceps strength at 60°/sec and at 180°/sec with Biodex 6000, dynamic balance with the Four Square Step Test (FSST), physical capacity with the six-minute walk test (6MWT) followed by the Borg's scale (BS), and QOL with the Short Form 36 (SF-36), bone mineral density (BMD) with dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and physical activity level with the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly.The patients had 17.6% lower quadriceps strength at 60°/sec (p?=?0.025) at left limb and 18.5% at 180°/sec (p?=?0.016) at right limb, and 21% lower at 180°/sec (p?=?0.010) at left limb compared to the controls. Impaired performance for the patients was found with 2.4 seconds (p?=?0.002) on the FSST, 74 metres (p?

SUBMITTER: Hakestad KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4127073 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature