Depressive Symptoms and Changes in Body Weight Exert Independent and Site-Specific Effects on Bone in Postmenopausal Women Exercising for 1 Year

Abstract

The negative impact of depressive symptoms on BMD in this population of postmenopausal women was independent of body weight or other behavioral factors such as calcium compliance or exercise.

Depressive Symptoms, Bone Loss, and Fractures in Postmenopausal Women

“…37 A recent 1-year longitudinal study of 320 postmenopausal white women (average age 56 years) did not observe an association between depressive symptoms and BMD loss at the more trabecular spine. 15 A second study including older white women (average age 76, n=4,177) reported an inverse relationship between depressive symptoms and total hip BMD. 16 Both studies reported an association between depressive symptoms and bone loss at the more cortical femoral neck region, but not at the trochanter.…”

“…However, another study of younger women with low levels of depressive symptoms excluded women with low BMD and still reported an association between femoral neck BMD and Beck Depression Inventory score (BDI). 15 These authors repeated their analysis replacing the BDI with the Burnam measure and found persistence of the association with changes in femoral neck BMD (p=0.09). Finally, depression may be associated with study withdrawal or with incomplete information.…”

“…Prospective studies are limited. In postmenopausal women, 2 longitudinal studies have reported an association between depressive symptoms and hip BMD 15,16 with 1 reporting no association at the spine. 15 Longitudinal studies more consistently report a positive association between depressive symptoms and risk of nonvertebral or hip fractures.…”

“…In postmenopausal women, 2 longitudinal studies have reported an association between depressive symptoms and hip BMD 15,16 with 1 reporting no association at the spine. 15 Longitudinal studies more consistently report a positive association between depressive symptoms and risk of nonvertebral or hip fractures. [17][18][19][20] Only 1 study examined other anatomic sites and reported an increase risk of spine but not wrist fracture after adjustment for antidepressant use.…”

Depression, fracture risk, and bone loss: a meta-analysis of cohort studies

“…Fourteen articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the meta-analysis [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][17][18][19][20][21][22]. When two or more publications were based on the same study population and reported the same outcomes, the report with the largest number of participants was selected.…”