A weight-bearing, water-based exercise program for osteopenic women: its impact on bone, functional fitness, and well-being.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects of a weight-bearing, water-based, exercise program designed for women with low bone mass.


METHODS
A test-retest cross-sectional, prospective study.


METHODS
Community-dwelling women from a Canadian city.


METHODS
Seventy-seven postmenopausal women, 50 to 70 years of age, with spinal or femoral bone density below the fracture threshold.


METHODS
Subjects exercised in a pool with waist-high water for 60 minutes, 3 days a week, over a 12-month period. Forty minutes of each session were devoted to successive jumps and muscular exercises designed to promote bone accretion, strength, and endurance.


METHODS
Spinal and femoral bone mineral density (BMD) measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, functional fitness (flexibility, coordination, agility, strength/endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance) assessed with the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance battery, and psychological states evaluated with Dupuy's General Well-Being Schedule.


RESULTS
Spinal BMD decreased significantly (p < .001), whereas there was no change in femoral neck BMD (p = .90). Four of the parameters chosen to assess functional fitness, namely, flexibility, agility, strength/endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance, were affected positively by the exercise program (all p values < .001). Psychological well-being also improved significantly after participation in the exercise program (p < .001).


CONCLUSIONS
The intervention was successful in improving the functional fitness and psychological well-being of the participants, despite a lack of effect on the skeletal system. Future studies are needed to identify water exercises that are safe yet exert enough stress on the bones to initiate a bone response.
Bravo
G
G
Centre de recherche en gérontologie et gériatrie, Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada.
Gauthier
P
P
Roy
P M
PM
Payette
H
H
Gaulin
P
P
D000368:Aged; D015519:Bone Density; D001851:Bone Diseases, Metabolic / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011446:Prospective Studies