Gender and sport differences in bone mineral density in athletes962

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the bone mineral density (BMD) of athletes in sports requiring different loading patterns; assessed by gender and sport. BMD was assessed by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (Hologic QDR1500) pre-season in five groups of athletes: Women's College Volleyball(WVB, n=12), Women's College Soccer (WS, n=19), Men's College Football (MCF, n=9), Men's High School Football (MHSF, n=19), and Men's Weight Training (MWT, n=11). All athletes had greater BMD than was predicted for their age. WVB had significantly higher BMD than WS for total body (TBBMD), total hip (HBMD), and lumbar spine (LBMD). MCF had significantly higher BMD than all groups, for all sites measured. Table Body weight was not correlated to TBBMD in any group except the young, MHSF. This may indicate that during the latter stages of maturation, body weight may still have an effect on BMD. It appears that athletes in sports that experience greater forces, from impact or loading, have greater BMD than the average population.