Determinants of bone mineral density in postmenopausal women in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Model 1 explained 37 % of the variance in total body T-score, F (4, 253) = 39.43, p < 0.001. Model 2 explained a further 3 % of the variance, F (11, 246) = 16.28, p < 0.001. Model 3 explained a further 1 % of the variance, F (15, 242) = 13.00, p < 0.001. The main variables which explained most of the variance in total body T score were increasing age, which was associated with lower BMD ( b= - 0.26; p = 0.001), higher percentage body fat, which was associated with higher BMD ( b= 0.225; p = 0.048), higher fat free mass (FFM), which was associated with higher BMD ( b= 0.385; p < 0.001) and current smoking which was negatively associated with BMD ( b= - 0.163; p = 0.001). Within this cohort, BTM did not explain any of the variance in BMD, albeit the obvious risk factors of increasing age and smoking were associated with a lower total body BMD, whereas weight (FM and FFM) were associated with a higher BMD. Similar findings have been reported recently by others (4,5) . In conclusion, findings from this study indicate that there is a relationship between FFM and BMD, suggesting that muscle weight has an additional predictive value over fat mass and, together with exercise, may potentially help to prevent osteoporosis.