Effects of physical exercise on bone mineral density in older postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

UNLABELLED

Osteoporosis or decreased bone mineral density (BMD) is the most important risk factor for fractures, especially in older postmenopausal women (PMW). However, the interactions between exercise training and bone mineral density are not completely understood. We evaluated the effects of physical exercise on BMD in women aged ≥ 60 years postmenopausal.

PURPOSE

This systematic review and meta-analysis sets out to determine the effects of physical exercise on BMD in older postmenopausal women.

METHODS

A systematic search was conducted in Medline, Science Direct, Cochrane, PubMed, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Scopus, and ProQuest up to December 25, 2021. Fifty-three studies, which assessed a total of 2896 participants (mean age: between 60 and 82 years), were included and analyzed using a random-effects model to estimate weighted mean differences (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS

The meta-analysis found that exercise training significantly (p < 0.05) increased femoral neck (WMD: 0.01 g/cm; 95% CI, 0.00 to 0.01], p = 0.0005; I = 57%; p < 0.0001), lumbar spine (WMD: 0.01 g/cm, 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.02], I = 81%; p = 0.0001), and trochanter (WMD: 0.01 g/cm, 95% CI 0.00, 0.02]; p = 0.009; I = 17%; p = 0.23). There were no significant differences between the intervention and control groups for total body and total hip BMD.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that exercise training may improve bone mineral density in older PMW. This improvement is mediated by increases in the femoral neck, lumbar spine, and trochanter BMD. Further long-term studies are required to confirm these findings.