Ma. Mayouxbenhamou et al., EFFECT OF PSOAS TRAINING ON POSTMENOPAUSAL LUMBAR BONE LOSS - A 3-YEAR FOLLOW-UP-STUDY, Calcified tissue international, 60(4), 1997, pp. 348-353
The present study completed a previous randomized trial that demonstra
ted the protective effect of 1-year psoas training on lumbar bone loss
in postmenopausal women. Computerized tomography had been carried out
at the beginning (CT1) and at the end (CT2) of this trial. In the pre
sent study, 67 women having completed the first trial were asked to pr
actice psoas exercises (60 hip flexions in sitting position with a 5 k
g weight on the knee) for 2 additional years with a third CT control a
t the end of this period (CT3). The aim of this complementary study wa
s to assess the compliance rate and long-term effect on bone of daily
psoas muscle training over a longer period. Twenty-one women performed
this daily psoas training for 3 years from CT1 to CT3, and 14 acted a
s controls during the same period. Fourteen women were controls during
the first year (from CT1 to CT2) but practiced psoas training during
the following 2 years (from CT2 to CT3). Four women were psoas trained
during the first year (from CT1 to CT2) and subsequently crossed over
to the control group for the last 2 years. The compliance rare was 42
%, with an attendance rate of 88%. The lumbar bone loss was lower in t
he 21 women trained over the 3 years (-3.26 +/- 28.45 mg/cm(3)) than i
n the 14 untrained women (-16.79 +/- 8.51 mg/cm(3)) (P = 0.02). The bo
ne loss was not significantly reduced between the two periods of the s
tudy in the 12 women having been controls from CT1 to CT2 and having c
rossed over to the active training group from CT2 to CT3. Psoas traini
ng may be effective against lumbar bone loss. We conclude that specifi
c training may play a contributing role in the preventive strategy to
avoid osteoporosis.