Effects of walking on bone quality as determined by ultrasound in the elderly

Abstract

In the present study, measurements of broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) were used as indications of bone quality in elderly residents of an old people's home. To investigate the possibility of using number of steps walked as an indicator of the role played by exercise on bone quality, we studied the relationship between BUA and the number of steps, taken as a measure of the number of impacts against the ground placing a direct mechanical stress on the bones. The subjects were 59 healthy elderly women with a mean age of 78+/-8 years who had no impairments in walking or daily life. A statistical analysis of the relationship between age, number of steps, BUA, stride length, and walking speed revealed that number of steps and BUA declined with age, and that BUA increased with a greater number of steps. Among other factors, age was found to be negatively correlated with weight (r= -0.343, P<0.01), BUA (r=-0.542, P<0.001), total number of steps (r= -0.524, P<0.001) and past exercise habits (r=-0.425, P<0.001). There were positive correlations between BUA and total number of steps (r=0.606, P<0.001), walking speed (r=0.460, P<0.001), stride length (r=0.373, P<0.01) and past exercise habits (r=0.429, P<0.001). These results show that the benefit to bone quality increases the more a person walks in daily life. The above demonstrates that degree of walking activity is positively correlated to bone quality among the elderly. These results also suggest that, when investigating the relationship between exercise and bone quality, one should look not only at distance and walking speed, but also number of steps as the number of impacts against the ground that place a direct mechanical stress on the bones. This may prove to be a useful indicator of bone quality in future use.

Associations of Daily Walking Steps with Calcaneal Ultrasound Parameters and a Bone Resorption Marker in Elderly Japanese Women

“…As a result, simple linear regression models were fitted to the relationships between QUS parameters and step number in the present study. Yanagimoto et al (2000) also showed a positive correlation between walking activity and QUS parameters among elderly Japanese women with a mean age of 78 years and suggested that, while not large, the accumulated small impacts from walking are a significant factor in maintaining bone quality among the elderly. It is certain that a low number of steps/day is associated with lower QUS measurements.…”

Association between gait speed and bone strength in community-dwelling postmenopausal Japanese women

“…Calcaneus measurements based on ultrasound and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) have been found to be useful tools for evaluating bone status [20,21]. The relationship between gait parameters and bone status has been examined using ultrasound parameters, and gait speed has been shown to be significantly associated with better bone quality in a cross-sectional study [22][23][24]. A significantly greater decline in usual gait speeds over a 2-year period in elderly women whose BMD decreased compared with those whose BMD increased has also been reported [25].…”

Effects of Pilates-Interventional Program on Calcaneus-Bone Density Parameters of Adult Women

“…Yanagimoto et al (2000) used ultrasound densitometry as a technique for measuring bone density in determining the effect of walking on bone quality. The BUA values predict fracture risk in older women white females (Brooke-Wavell et al, 2008) and decrease with the aging process (Wehbe et al, 2003), but the higher level of BUA was noticed in people who made more steps a day, which contributed to the normal level of bone quality (Muir et al, 2013).…”