SynthesisOsteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA2026
What is the association between physical activity and fracture risk in middle-aged adults (aged 30-60): a systematic review and synthesis without meta-analysis (SWIM).
Synthesis in Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThis systematic review examines the relationship between habitual physical activity (PA) in mid-life and fracture outcomes.
objectivesTo determine whether habitual physical activity undertaken in mid-life is associated with the risk of fractures occurring at any later time.
methodsWe searched PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase (from inception to May 2025) and included non-experimental studies reporting a relationship between habitual physical activity undertaken in mid-life and a subsequent fracture. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, and certainty of evidence was established with the GRADE approach.
resultsFrom 1779 abstracts, we included 10 cohort studies and 3 case-control studies. There was high variation in how physical activity was measured and categorised across studies, limiting comparability. Due to study heterogeneity in exposure and outcome reporting, we conducted a synthesis without meta-analysis (SWIM). Following the GRADE approach, we found low certainty of evidence for a protective effect of moderate activity in mid-life on hip fracture in men (n = 2) and moderate certainty of evidence for a protective effect of high physical activity in mid-life on hip fracture in women (n = 4). There was very low certainty of evidence for the effect of either moderate or high activity on other types of fracture outcomes in men or women (n = 3). Qualitative review of two large studies of moderate to high quality provided further support for these findings.
conclusionsThe temporal relationship between physical activity intensity in mid-life and subsequent fracture risk remains unclear. Further studies using device-measured physical activity and detailed time-to-event data are required.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41251755What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.