Older ambulatory women who participate in regular physical activity – including lighter-intensity activity – have a lower fracture risk than their more sedentary peers, according to a new paper by a team of epidemiologists.
The study included about 77,000 participants from the Women’s Health Initiative with a mean follow-up of 14 years. Overall, recreational and non-recreational physical activity was linked to lower odds of hip, clinical vertebral, and total fractures.
The study also looked at the association of site-specific fractures and physical activity. Lower risk of hip fracture was tied to greater amounts of total, mild, moderate-to-vigorous, and walking physical activity. This finding has important public health implications, as these activities are common in older adults, wrote Michael J. LaMonte, Ph.D., MPH, of the University at Buffalo, and colleagues.
“Lower-intensity activities are more easily adopted by older individuals and should be recommended when such activity is not contraindicated,” the authors wrote.
These and other site-specific fracture findings were reported in JAMA Network Open.
