Bone mineral density testing and osteoporosis education improve lifestyle behaviors in premenopausal women: A prospective study

One way to decrease the risk of osteoporosis is to maximize peak bone mass. Peak bone mass may be moderately influenced by lifestyle behaviors: increa sing calcium and exercise, decreasing alcohol intake and smoking may increa se peak bone mass. We examined the effects of osteoporosis education and bo ne mineral density (BMD) testing on self-reported lifestyle behaviors in 66 9 premenopausal women enrolled in a prospective study to assess determinant s of peak bone mass. Study participants completed a questionnaire that asse ssed lifestyle behaviors, received pamphlets about osteoporosis, and had BM D testing. One year later, the women completed a similar questionnaire. Aft er education about osteoporosis and BMD testing, women reported that they w ere less likely to smoke (odds ratio [OR] = 0.55; 95% confidence interval [ 95% CI]: 0.28-1.0), consume alcohol (OR = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.04-0.34), and caf feinated beverages (OR = 0.43; 95% CI: 0.27-0.68), Women were more likely t o use calcium supplements (OR = 4.3; 95% CI: 3.04-6.2), vitamin D supplemen ts (OR = 12.6; 95% CI: 7.4-22.9), and drink at least one glass of milk a da y (OR = 13.3; 95% CI: 7.8-23.9). Further, women with low bone mass were mor e likely to use calcium supplements (OR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.2-2.3) and vitamin D supplements (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.1-2.2) compared with women who had norm al bone mass. Thus, our intervention improved self-reported lifestyle behav iors in premenopausal women, Such behaviors may ultimately increase peak bo ne mass and decrease the risk of developing osteoporosis.