Association of bone mineral density with postural stability and the fear of falling in Spanish postmenopausal women.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to investigate the relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and postural stability and the fear of falling in a 50- to 65-year-old postmenopausal population.

Study Design: A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted on 118 postmenopausal women. According to their BMD values, participants were divided into two groups: BMD>-2.0SD (n=95) and ≤-2.0SD (n=23).

Main Outcome Measures: Postural stability, assessed with a resistive multi-sensor platform, fear of falling (FoF) and the history of falls in the last 12 months were investigated.

Results: Women with BMD≤-2.0SD reported a significantly increased FoF when compared to women with BMD>-2.0SD (P=0.024, η(2)=0.045, 1-β=0.624). In the postural stability analysis, the group with BMD≤-2.0SD showed, under the eyes-open condition, statistically significantly higher values for the velocity (VEO) (P=0.040, η(2)=0.037, 1-β=0.539) and the anteroposterior mean displacement of the center of pressure (YEO; P=0.017, η(2)=0.049, 1-β=0.669). No significant differences between groups were observed in the history of falls or in the rest of the stabilometric analyses.

Conclusions: In Spanish postmenopausal women under 65 years, a BMD≤-2.0SD is significantly associated with postural instability (elevated VEO and XEO) and an increased FoF, which are two highly influential factors in the risk of falling.