Endocrinology · 3 h ago
Regular Step-Count Achievement Linked to Lower QUS Decline Risk in Premenopausal Women
A prospective cohort study of 3,529 women in Japan examined whether how often participants reached 7,000 daily steps was associated with a decline in quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurements over about 42.5 months. Reaching that step count on at least three days per week was associated with lower risk in premenopausal women, but not postmenopausal women.
- Cohort included 3,529 women in Japan.
- Step counts were measured with pedometers at baseline.
- Three or more active days were associated with lower risk in premenopausal women.
- No significant association was found in postmenopausal women.
Researchers used data from the Tohoku Medical Megabank Community-Based Cohort Study in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The analysis included 1,013 premenopausal and 2,516 postmenopausal women. Pedometers recorded baseline steps over seven days; participants were grouped by the number of days they reached at least 7,000 steps: none, one to two, or three or more. The outcome was a follow-up QUS T-score of −2.5 or lower, or a self-reported osteoporosis diagnosis.
Over a mean 42.5 months, the outcome occurred in 70 premenopausal and 662 postmenopausal women. Among premenopausal women, achieving at least 7,000 steps on three or more days per week was associated with lower risk than achieving it on no days (adjusted risk ratio 0.478; 95% CI 0.271–0.843). The association was not statistically significant among postmenopausal women (RR 0.937; 95% CI 0.807–1.088). Reaching the threshold on one to two days per week was not significantly associated with the outcome in either group.
The findings suggest the association may differ by menopausal status, but do not establish that walking caused the difference. The outcome was based on QUS or self-reported diagnosis, not fracture incidence, and the observational design cannot show that a step-count target prevents osteoporosis.
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Osteoporosis International: Association between the frequency of achieving recommended daily step counts and a decline in quantitative ultrasound measurements in premenopausal and postmenopausal women: a 4-year prospective study of the Tohoku Medical Megabank Community-Based Cohort study ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.