BACKGROUND: Low bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine is a major public health problem among postmenopausal women. We conducted a meta-analysis of individual patient data (IPD) to examine the effects of exercise on lumbar spine BMD in postmenopausal women. METHODS: IPD were requested from a previously developed database of summary means from randomized and nonrandomized trials dealing with the effects of exercise on BMD. Two-way analysis of variance tests with pairwise comparisons (p <= 0.05) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to determine the statistical significance for changes in lumbar spine BMD. RESULTS: Across 13 trials that included 699 subjects (355 exercise, 344 control), a statistically significant interaction was found between test and group (F = 15.232, p = 0.000). Pairwise comparisons (Bonferroni t tests) revealed a statistically significant increase in final minus initial BMD for the exercise group (+/- SD 0.005 +/- 0.043 g/cm2, t = 2.46, p = 0.014, 95% CI 0.001 to 0.009) and a statistically significant decrease in final minus initial BMD for the control group (+/- SD -0.007 +/- 0.045 g/cm2, t = -3.051, p = 0.002, 95% CI -0.012 to -0.002). Changes were equivalent to an approximate 2% benefit in lumbar spine BMD (exercise +1%, control -1%). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this IPD meta-analysis suggest that exercise helps to improve and maintain lumbar spine BMD in postmenopausal women.
Copyright the Gerontological Society of America. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.

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