Body composition and osteoporosis in elderly women

Objectives: To study body composition in elderly osteoporotic women to dete rmine the relationship of body weight, body fat mass and lean mass to bone mineral density (BMD), and to investigate the association between one-leg b alance, osteoporosis and sarcopenia. Design and Setting: A cross-sectional study of a community-based population in Toulouse, France. Methods: For eac h participant, whole body composition and BMD were estimated using a dual-e nergy x-ray absorptiometry scanner. We investigated balance using a one-leg balance test. Participants: 129 healthy women aged 75-89 years, volunteers , ambulatory and living at home. Results: Total fat mass and appendicular s keletal muscle mass (ASM) were significantly lower in osteoporotic women th an in the age- and sex-matched non-osteoporotic controls [18.7 +/-. 4.6 vs. 22.2 +/- 6.6 for total fat mass (p < 0.01); 13.1 +/- 1.6 vs. 13.8 +/- 2.2 for ASM (p < 0.05)]. We did not find a positive association between osteopo rosis and sarcopenia (OR = 0.75, CI 0.3-1.84), osteoporosis and one-leg bal ance (OR = 1.27, CI 0.51-3.17), or sarcopenia and one-leg balance (OR = 1.3 1, CI 0.52-3.36). There were significant positive correlations between BMD in all areas and body measurements (weight, fat mass, lean tissue mass), bu t fat mass accounted for more of the variance in total body and femoral BMD than lean tissue mass. Total fat mass alone, in a multivariate model, was correlated with whole body BMD, whereas femoral BMD was associated with bot h fat mass and lean tissue mass. Conclusion: Higher values of fat mass and lean tissue mass may have a protective effect on femoral bone density. Sarc openia and osteoporosis are not necessarily linked with balance. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.