title: Life-style, environmental and medical factors influencing peak bone mass in women.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess which life-style factors were associated with peak bone mass. One-thousand-two-hundred-and-twenty-seven pre-menopausal women aged between 45 and 49 yr had their bone density measured at the hip and spine. In addition, these women were given a postal questionnaire asking about life-style factors that may be associated with bone mineral density (BMD). Using stepwise multiple linear regression analysis we found that life-style or environmental factors explained a small but significant proportion of the variation in BMD. Statistically significant associations between anthropometric measures, exercise levels, fracture history and BMD were found. We also observed a positive association between self-reported numbers of miscarriages and BMD. This work supports the conclusions of smaller studies that risk factor analysis explains only a small amount of the variance in BMD.
authors.affiliation: Health Economics Unit, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Torgerson
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Reid
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D015519:Bone Density; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D005082:Physical Exertion; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013131:Spine / Q000378:metabolism; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires