Long-term prediction of incident hip fracture risk in elderly white women: study of osteoporotic fractures.

Objectives: To identify independent risk factors for first hip fracture over 10 years of follow-up.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Four U.

Inflammatory markers and incident mobility limitation in the elderly.

Objectives: To examine the relationship between indicators of inflammation and the incidence of mobility limitation in older persons.

Design: Prospective cohort study: the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.

Setting: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Quadriceps weakness and its relationship to tibiofemoral and patellofemoral knee osteoarthritis in Chinese: the Beijing osteoarthritis study.

Objective: Weakness has been documented as a feature of tibiofemoral knee osteoarthritis (OA) and may cause disease in this compartment by shock absorption during impulse loading at heel strike, when the patellofemoral joint is not engaged. Our objective was to determine the association of muscle weakness with compartment-specific knee OA, to evaluate sex-specific differences in this relationship, and to determine, by evaluating asymptomatic individuals with OA, whether symptoms may produce the weakness seen in OA.

Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 2,472 subjects (1,475 women and 997 men) ages 60 years or older from 4 central districts of Beijing, China.

Diabetes is associated independently of body composition with BMD and bone volume in older white and black men and women: The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.

Unlabelled: The association between type 2 diabetes, BMD, and bone volume was examined to determine the effect of lean and fat mass and fasting insulin in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study, which included white and black well-functioning men and women 70-79 years of age (N = 2979). Diabetes predicted higher hip, whole body, and volumetric spine BMD, and lower spine bone volume, independent of body composition and fasting insulin.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine if the association between type 2 diabetes and higher BMD observed in older white women is seen in elderly white men and blacks and to evaluate if higher BMD in diabetic individuals is accounted for by lean mass, fat mass, or fasting insulin differences.

Chopstick arthropathy: the Beijing Osteoarthritis Study.

Objective: Several investigators have speculated that mechanical stress might play an important role in the development of hand osteoarthritis (OA). Chopsticks, used universally as eating utensils in China, increase joint loading in the first through third fingers. We conducted a population-based survey among elderly Chinese individuals living in Beijing, to explore whether chopsticks use is associated with prevalent hand OA.

Progression of radiographic hip osteoarthritis over eight years in a community sample of elderly white women.

Objective: To describe progression over 8 years in a community-based sample of elderly women with radiographic findings of hip osteoarthritis (RHOA) with or without hip pain.

Methods: Baseline and followup anteroposterior pelvic radiographs were obtained at a mean +/- SD 8.3 +/- 0.

Higher risk of multiple falls among elderly women who lose visual acuity.

Objective: To determine the association between changes in visual acuity (VA) and frequent falls in older women.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Participants: Two thousand two elderly community-residing women participating in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures with measurements of VA at baseline and a follow-up examination 4 to 6 years later (mean of 5.

Association of squatting with increased prevalence of radiographic tibiofemoral knee osteoarthritis: the Beijing Osteoarthritis Study.

Objective: To examine the association between squatting, a common daily posture in China, and the prevalence of radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) in different knee compartments among Chinese subjects from Beijing, and to estimate how much of the difference in prevalence of knee OA between Chinese subjects in Beijing and white subjects in Framingham, Massachusetts is accounted for by the impact of squatting.

Methods: We recruited a random sample of Beijing residents age > or =60 years. Subjects answered questions on joint symptoms, and knee radiographs were obtained.

How does low back pain impact physical function in independent, well-functioning older adults? Evidence from the Health ABC Cohort and implications for the future.

Objective: To determine the relationships between low back pain (LBP) frequency and intensity and self-reported and performance-based physical function in a large cohort of well-functioning older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional survey and examination.

Setting: Community-based cohort of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) study.

Sarcopenia: alternative definitions and associations with lower extremity function.

Objectives: To compare two sarcopenia definitions and examine the relationship between them and lower extremity function and other health related factors using data from the baseline examination of the Health Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study.

Design: Observational cohort study.

Setting: Two U.

Association of nitrate use with risk of new radiographic features of hip osteoarthritis in elderly white women: the study of osteoporotic fractures.

Objective: To examine the association between nitrate medication use and the development of new radiographic findings of hip osteoarthritis (OA) in elderly women.

Methods: Pelvic radiographs were obtained at baseline and a mean of 8.3 years later in 5,987 women, age > or =65 years at the baseline examination of the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures.

Bone mineral density and prevalent vertebral fractures in men and women.

To test the hypothesis that the association between bone mineral density (BMD) and estimated volumetric BMD and prevalent vertebral fractures differs in men and women, we studied 317 Caucasian men and 2,067 Caucasian women (average age 73 years). A total of 43 (14%) men and 386 (19%) women had a vertebral fracture identified on lateral spine radiographs using vertebral morphometry. Hip and spine areal BMD was about 1/3 standard deviation lower among men and women with a vertebral fracture.

Neck and shoulder pain in 70- to 79-year-old men and women: findings from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.

Background Context: Musculoskeletal pain in the cervicobrachial region is considered a major health problem among adults of working age, but little is known about the impact of this pain in the elderly.

Purpose: Determine the prevalence of neck and shoulder pain in a well-functioning cohort, identify factors associated with this pain, assess the pattern of coexisting joint pain and evaluate the impact of this pain on physical functioning.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

BMD at multiple sites and risk of fracture of multiple types: long-term results from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures.

Unlabelled: In a large cohort of U.S. women aged 65 and older, we report the relationships of BMD measured at several sites, and subsequent fracture risk at multiple sites over > 8 years of follow-up.

Lumbar spine listhesis in older African American women.

Background Context: Degenerative changes in the lumbar spine may result in a loss of spinal stability and subluxation of one vertebra relative to another. Cadaveric studies and clinical case series have suggested that listhesis may be much more common in African Americans than in whites.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of lumbar spine listhesis (anterolisthesis and retrolisthesis) among African American women aged 65 years and older and the relationship of listhesis to low back pain, physical function and quality of life.

Is social integration associated with the risk of falling in older community-dwelling women?

Background: Social integration may lead to social support and influence that may in turn protect older community-dwelling adults from falls.

Methods: We examined incident falls over 3 years across quartiles of social integration scores in 6692 Caucasian women enrolled in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (mean age = 77 +/- 5 years). Social integration was assessed using family networks, friendship networks, and interdependence scores.

Lower extremity physical performance and hip bone mineral density in elderly black and white men and women: cross-sectional associations in the Health ABC Study.

Background: Aging is characterized by declines in physical capacity and bone mineral density (BMD), both of which contribute to increased risk for fracture. However, it is unclear if these factors coexist or are independent in elderly people, and if a relationship does exist, whether it varies by sex and/or race.

Methods: Data are from 847 white women, 723 black women, 927 white men, and 544 black men aged 70-79 years participating in the Health Aging and Body Composition (ABC) Study, a cohort of well-functioning community-dwelling elders.

A randomized controlled trial of a Chinese herbal remedy to increase energy, memory, sexual function, and quality of life in elderly adults in Beijing, China.

Background: Chinese herbal medicines are commonly used to improve general health and well-being despite limited scientific data to support their efficacy. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine whether an herbal remedy that is used widely in China was associated with changes in quality of life, energy, memory, sexual function, and qi (the Chinese concept of "vital energy" that is important in general health).

Methods: Residents (n = 237) of Beijing, China, who were aged > or =60 years and had self-reported decreased energy, memory, or sexual function, were randomly assigned to take four tablets of a Chinese herbal formula or of an identical placebo, three times a day for 30 days.

[High prevalence of knee, but not hip or hand osteoarthritis in Beijing elders: comparison with data of Caucasian in United States].

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of knee, hip and hand osteoarthritis (OA) in the elderly of Beijing and to compare the prevalence of OA between the Beijing elders and the US Caucasians.

Methods: Using the same standardized instruments and protocol as those in the Framingham Osteoarthritis Study, home interview, clinical examination and radiography were conducted among 1012 males and 1507 females, all aged 60 and over, on 4 central districts of Beijing with informed consent. The data of survey were compared with those of the corresponding US study.

Walking performance and cardiovascular response: associations with age and morbidity--the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.

Background: The long-distance corridor walk is a timed 400-meter walk test used to assess walking endurance in well-functioning men and women aged 70-79 in the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.

Methods: We examined walking time along with heart rate and blood pressure response in relationship to prevalent chronic conditions, weight, physical activity, and markers of subclinical disease. Of 3075 participants, 2324 (76%) completed the test with heart rate and blood pressure responses in the range expected for a moderate level of exertion.

Sex- and race-related differences in cross-sectional geometry and bone density of the femoral mid-shaft in older adults.

Background: Femoral shaft fracture incidence increases in older adults and is associated with low-energy trauma. Apart from bone density, the distribution and size of bone contributes to its strength.

Aim: To examine if bone geometry and density of the femoral mid-shaft in older adults differs by sex and race, we studied 197 White women, 225 Black women, 242 White men, and 148 Black men aged 70-79 years participating in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study; a prospective cohort study in the USA.

Incident vertebral fractures and mortality in older women: a prospective study.

Older persons who have prevalent vertebral fractures have an increased risk of mortality. It is not known whether incident vertebral fractures are also associated with an increased risk of mortality. To determine whether older women with incident vertebral fractures have an increased risk of mortality, we conducted a prospective cohort study of 7233 community-dwelling older women aged 65 years or older who were enrolled in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures.

Risk for fracture in women with low serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone.

Background: Biochemical evidence of hyperthyroidism may be associated with low bone mass, particularly in older postmenopausal women, but no prospective studies of thyroid function and subsequent fracture risk have been done.

Objective: To examine the association between low levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and fracture in older women.

Design: Prospective cohort study with case-cohort sampling.

Is a fall just a fall: correlates of falling in healthy older persons. The Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.

Objectives: To identify factors associated with falling in well-functioning older people.

Design: Cross-sectional analyses of report of falls over the past 12 months using baseline data from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.

Setting: Clinic examinations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, or Memphis, Tennessee.