Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108818

Madeleine H. Gorman, Hampshire College, 893 West Street, Box 0985, Amherst, MA 01002, 914.263.0250, mgorman@hampshire.edu and Elizabeth A. Conlisk, PhD, School of Natural Science, Hampshire College, 893 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002.

Background: Peak bone mass in women, usually achieved by the early twenties, is an important determinant of osteoporosis risk later in life. Smoking, physical inactivity and low calcium intake have been shown to impair bone acquisition; the prevalence of these risk factors is high among young, low-income women. However, no studies have examined bone health in this population. Methods: The sample for this ongoing study includes women aged 20-45 whose children are enrolled in a Women, Infants and Children Program in rural Massachusetts. Preliminary results for 33 participants are presented here. None of the women were pregnant or had given birth/breastfed within the previous year. An Achilles Insight ultrasonometer was used to measure Stiffness Index (SI) of the heel, an independent predictor of hip fracture risk. Individual SI scores were compared to an age-matched reference population and expressed as z-scores. A z-score of 0 corresponds to the mean value for a given agegroup; a z-score of -1 corresponds to 1 standard deviation below the age-specific mean. Data on smoking, diet, exercise and Body Mass Index (BMI) were also collected. Results: The mean z-score was -0.53 (95% CI, -0.83, -0.24). The most significant predictor of z-score was BMI (r=0.23; p=0.09). Conclusion: These preliminary data suggest that low-income women of childbearing age are not achieving optimal peak bone mass and are at increased risk for osteoporosis. These findings, if confirmed in the full sample, reinforce the need for pre-adult osteoporosis prevention, especially in low-income females.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the presentation, the participant will be able to (
• describe bone health in low-income women of childbearing age.

Keywords: Health Disparities, Low-Income

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.