title: Leisure time physical activity and risk of non-vertebral fracture in men and women aged 55 years and older: the Tromsø Study.
abstract: Our aim was to examine associations between leisure time physical activity and risk of non-vertebral fractures in men and women aged ≥55 years, with focus on the anatomical fracture location. Self-reported physical activity was registered in 3,450 men and 4,072 women aged 55-97 years at baseline in the Tromsø Study, Norway, in 1994-1995. Non-vertebral fractures were registered through December 31, 2009. During 75,546 person-years at risk, 1,693 non-vertebral fractures were identified. Risk of any non-vertebral fracture decreased with increasing physical activity level in men (P (trend) = 0.006) and non-significantly in women (P (trend) = 0.15), after adjustment for age, body mass index, height, smoking, and previous fracture. The reduced fracture risk was due to a reduced risk in the weight-bearing skeleton, particular at the hip, whereas risk of fracture in the non-weight-bearing skeleton was not related to physical activity. At weight-bearing sites, an inverse relationship between physical activity and fracture risk was present in both sexes (P (trend) ≤ 0.013). Compared with sedentary subjects, the most active men and women had respectively 37% (HR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.45, 0.88) and 23% (HR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.62, 0.95) reduced fracture risk in the weight-bearing skeleton. Physical activity is associated with reduced fracture risk at weight-bearing sites, with no associations at non-weight-bearing sites, in both sexes. Habitual physical activity is an important amendable approach to prevent hip fracture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway. bente.morseth@uit.no
authors.forename: Bente
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Morseth
authors.forename: Luai A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Åshild
authors.initials: Å
authors.lastname: Bjørnerem
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Emaus
authors.forename: Bjarne K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: Ragnar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Joakimsen
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Størmer
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wilsgaard
authors.forename: Lone
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jørgensen
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D058866:Osteoporotic Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011998:Recreation; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D016474:Weight-Bearing