ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2023
Bone health in Norwegian female elite runners: a cross-sectional, controlled study.
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Low Energy Availability and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Pooled it
- Low energy availability, the gut microbiome, and bone health in athletes: a mechanistic narrative review based on athlete evidence and clinical analogues.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Identification of Predictive Risk Factors for the Development of a Stress Fracture Within 6 Months in Highly Trained Female Long-Distance Runners: A Prospective Cohort Study.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Protecting women's health in sport: the role of low energy availability in the Female Athlete Triad and RED-S.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Review
- Low Energy Availability and Its Impact on Bone Health and Metabolism in Athletes: A Narrative Review.Physiological research · 2025Review
- Breathing Reserve and Lung Function in Female Elite Runners.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: The primary objective was to compare bone mineral density (BMD) in Norwegian female elite long-distance runners with a control group of inactive females. Secondary objectives were to identify cases of low BMD, to compare the concentration of bone turnover markers, vitamin D and symptoms of low energy availability (LEA) between the groups, and to identify possible associations between BMD and selected variables. Methods: Fifteen runners and fifteen controls were included. Assessments included dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measurement of BMD in the total body, lumbar spine and dual proximal femur. Blood samples included endocrine analyses and circulating bone turnover markers. The risk of LEA was assessed through a questionnaire. Results: Runners had higher Z-scores in the dual proximal femur (1.30 (0.20 to 1.80) vs 0.20 (-0.20 to 0.80), p<0.021) and total body (1.70 (1.20 to 2.30) vs 0.90 (0.80 to 1.00), p<0.001). The lumbar spine Z-score was similar between groups (0.10 (-0.70 to 0.60) vs -0.10(-0.50 to 0.50), p=0.983). Three runners had low BMD (Z-score <-1) in the lumbar spine. Vitamin D and bone turnover markers showed no differences between the groups. Forty-seven per cent of the runners were at risk of LEA. Dual proximal femur BMD showed a positive correlation to estradiol and a negative correlation to LEA symptoms in runners. Conclusion: Norwegian female elite runners had higher BMD Z-score in the dual proximal femur and total body compared with controls, while no difference was observed in the lumbar spine. The advantages of long-distance running on bone health seem to be site specific, and there is still a need for the prevention of LEA and menstrual disorders in this group.
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