Trial reportBritish journal of sports medicine2005
Low bone mineral density is two to three times more prevalent in non-athletic premenopausal women than in elite athletes: a comprehensive controlled study.
Trial report in British journal of sports medicine, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Urinary incontinence in female athletes: a systematic review.International urogynecology journal · 2018Pooled it
- Pelvic Floor Knowledge and Dysfunctions in Female Athletes: Impact of Demographics, Sport Profile, and Physical Activity.International urogynecology journal · 2026Article
- Assessing the risk of low energy availability, bone mineral density and psychological strain in endurance athletes.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2025Article
- Health among Retired Great Britain's Olympic Athletes: A cross-sectional Study of Disease and Multimorbidity.Sports medicine - open · 2025Article
- Exercise interventions to improve bone mineral density in athletes participating in low-impact sports: a scoping review.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- Cross-sectional associations between accelerometer-measured physical activity and hip bone mineral density: the Tromsø Study 2015-2016.JBMR plus · 2024Article
- Do we need to change the guideline values for determining low bone mineral density in athletes?Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2022Article
- A 15-year follow-up study of hip bone mineral density and associations with leisure time physical activity. The Tromsø Study 2001-2016.PloS one · 2022Article
- Risk of Low Energy Availability in National and International Level Paralympic Athletes: An Exploratory Investigation.Nutrients · 2021Article
- Physical health and symptoms of relative energy deficiency in female fitness athletes.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2020Article
- Associations between exercise, bone mineral density, and body composition in adolescents with anorexia nervosa.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2019Article
- The interactions of physical activity, exercise and genetics and their associations with bone mineral density: implications for injury risk in elite athletes.European journal of applied physiology · 2019Review
- Exercise characteristics influence femoral cross-sectional geometry: a magnetic resonance imaging study in elite female athletes.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2015Article
- A Systematic Review of Bone Health in Cyclists.Sports health · 2011Article
- DXA surrogates for visceral fat are inversely associated with bone density measures in adolescent athletes with menstrual dysfunction.Journal of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism : JPEM · 2011Article
- Article
- The female football player, disordered eating, menstrual function and bone health.British journal of sports medicine · 2007Review
- Bone Health in Athletes.Sports healthReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo compare bone mineral density (BMD), investigate factors associated with BMD, and examine the prevalence of low BMD in athletes and non-athletic controls.
methodsThe study included a questionnaire (part I), measurement of BMD (part II), and a clinical interview (part III). All Norwegian female athletes on national teams (n = 938) and an aged matched random sample of non-athletic controls (n = 900) were invited to participate. The questionnaire was completed by 88% of athletes and 70% of controls. A random sample of these athletes (n = 300) and controls (n = 300) was invited to participate in parts II and III. All parts were completed by 186 athletes (62%) and 145 controls (48%).
resultsMean (standard deviation) total body (TB) BMD was higher (p<0.001) in athletes (1.21 (0.09) g/cm2) than in controls (1.18 (0.08) g/cm2), and higher (p<0.001) in high impact (HI) sports athletes than in medium impact (MI) and low impact (LI) sports athletes. In athletes, body weight and impact loading sports were positively associated, and percent body fat and eating disorders were negatively associated with TB BMD. Body weight and weight bearing activities were positively associated and menstrual dysfunction was negatively associated with TB BMD in controls. A higher percentage of controls (28.3%) than athletes (10.7%) had low BMD (p<0.001).
conclusionFemale elite athletes have 3-20% higher BMD than non-athletic controls and HI sports athletes have 3-22% higher BMD compared with MI and LI sports athletes. Low BMD is two to three times more common in non-athletic premenopausal women than in elite athletes.
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