Bone Abstracts

The aim of our study was to evaluate the anthropometric characteristics in postmenopausal women depending on appendicular skeletal mass.

Materials and methods: We’ve examined 8882 women aged 20–89 years (mean age – 56.7±0.14 years; mean height – 162.5±0.07 cm; mean weight – 73.5±0.16 kg), among them anthropometric measures were performed in 79 postmenopausal women aged 40–82 years (mean age – 63.53±1.08 years, mean height – 157.54±0.79 cm, mean weight – 74.75±1.68 kg). Appendicular skeletal mass (ASM) was measured in all four limbs with DXA. We also calculated the appendicular skeletal mass index (ASMI) as ASM/height (kg/m²). During quartile analysis depending on ASMI the examined women were divided on following groups: Q1 – ASMI <6.38 kg/m² (n=20), Q2 – ASMI =6.38–6.83 kg/m² (n=20), Q3 – ASMI =6.84–7.36 kg/m² (n=20), Q4 – ASMI >7.36 kg/m² (n=19). Anthropometric characteristics of the women were evaluated by the method of Bunak V.V. (1941) in the modification Shaparenko P.F. (1994). Lean and fat masses were measured by DXA using a densitometer Prodigy, GE. Statistical analysis was performed using the program ‘Statistica 6.0’.

Results: Frequency of sarcopenia in women aged 65 years and older was 7%. During quartile analysis depending on ASMI we found that women of Q1 and Q2 groups had significantly lower the following anthropometric characteristics: weight (Q1 – 70.90 kg, Q2 – 70.25 kg, Q3 – 74.75 kg, Q4 – 85.53 kg; F=5.24; P=0.002), neck circumference (Q1 – 350 mm, Q2 – 357 mm, Q3 – 376 mm, Q4 – 393 mm; F=5.68; P=0001), abdomen circumference (Q1 – 846 mm, Q2 – 936 mm, Q3 – 1008 mm, Q4 – 1106 mm; F=11.52; P<0.0001), shoulder width (Q1 – 903 un., Q2 – 963 un., Q3 – 1029 un., Q4 – 1078 un.; F=2.22; P=0.09), narrow tibia circumference (Q1 – 221 mm, Q2 – 227 mm, Q3 – 244 mm, Q4 – 248 mm; F=6.44; P=0.0006). We also observed the significantly lower thorax circumference in women of Q1 group (Q1 – 903 mm, Q2 – 963 mm, Q3 – 1029 mm, Q4=−1079 mm; F=3.82; P=0.01) in comparison with women of Q4 group (Q1 – 903 mm, Q2 -963 mm, Q3 – 1029 mm, Q4 – 1079 mm; F=3.82; P=0.01).

Conclusion: Women with lower ASMI (Q1 and Q2 groups) had the significantly lower following anthropometric characteristics: weight, neck circumference, abdomen circumference, shoulder width, narrow tibia circumference. Thus, we can use the anthropometric measures for determining the groups with the relative risk of sarcopenia and its complications.