ISPR8-1617 MUSCLE PERFORMANCE IN POST-MENOPAUSAL WOMEN AT DIFFERENT RISK OF FALLING: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Introduction/Background Falls are very common in older people and in post-menopausal osteoporotic women might lead to disability and hospitalization, with a significant health care burden. The relationship among the several risk factors for falls is still not well clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate muscle performance of post-menopausal women, according to their risk of falling. Material and Method In this cross-sectional multicentre study, we included post-menopausal women aged ≥55 years, referring to 10 Italian centers specialized in bone health. The cohort was stratified in three groups according to a fall screening test (FST): mild, moderate, and high risk of falling. We assessed the physical performance using the Unipedal Stance Test (UST) and the gait speed. Results According to the FST, 752 women, mean aged 71.6 ± 10.4 years, were divided into 3 groups: 365 (48.6%), 254 (33.8%), and 133 (17.6%) at mild, moderate and high risk of falling respectively. There were statistically significant differences among the 3 groups for both UST (15,70 ± 15,04 vs 8,39 ± 10,37 vs 3,17 ± 2,87; p<0.001) and gait speed (0,89 ± 0,34 vs 0,57 ± 0,38 vs 0,37 ± 0,20; p<0.001). We observed a significant negative correlation between FST and UST (ρ = - 0,527; p<0,001) and between FST and gait speed (ρ = - 0,575; p<0,001). Conclusion Our data suggest that the risk of falling is moderately correlated to the reduced muscle function and there is progressive worsening of muscle performance with the increase in the risk of falling.