The effects of functional activities on osteogenesis in the elderly / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the osteogenic potential of selected exercises and determine which one has the greatest value for the elderly.Methods Twenty healthy old subjects were recruited in the study.Each subject performed the following four exercises in random orderstepping onto a 4-in riser (STEP),sit-to-stand (STS),jumping (JUMP) and marching (MARCH).The subjects performed successively each of the 4 exercises for 1 minute,with an interval of 3 minutes between each.The Vicon action capture system was used to record the peak ground reaction of the subjects during their exercises.The osteogenic index (OI) was calculated by the formulaOI=peak GRF/ (body weight×9.8) × In (number of loading cycles±1).Results JUMP and MARCH had superior OI value (7.52 ±2.06,6.51 ±1.59) than STEP (5.22 ±0.63) among the4 exercises (P＜0.05).STS was found to have the lowest OI (2.23 ± 0.42) in the elderly.There was no significant correlation between the height and OI in JUMP and MARCH (P ＞0.05).Conclusion STEP and MARCH had the higher OI value and could be deemed as the better ways to induce positive effects on bone health in the elderly population.