BONE MINERAL DENSITY DIFFERENCES IN FEMALE ATHLETES AND REFERENCE POPULATIONS

Abstract

1659 Relationships between risk factors for stress injury to bone in females have been established, but are poorly understood. An inverse relationship has been identified between low bone mineral density (BMD) and stress injuries. BMD has been shown to increase with weight bearing activities. It could be expected, therefore, that females who participate in weight bearing activities have higher BMD values than their inactive counterparts. The purpose of this study was to compare the BMD values from athletic females (Group I) and a reference population (Group II). Subjects in Group I (n=81) were NCAA Division I female athletes consisting of 12 basketball players, 9 volleyball players, 28 soccer players, and 13 gymnasts. Group II was composed of an age matched(mean age=19 years) reference female population. A bone density scan was performed on each subject using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA-Lunar DPX-L). Five sites were selected for comparison including total body, spine, Ward's triangle, femoral neck, and greater trochanter. The number of individuals in Group II varied depending on site scanned (spine n=43, femur n=28, total body n=22). Results indicated significant differences (p<.001) between the groups at all five sites. Means (±SD) are listed in the table below.Table