Fracture Risk and Physical Activity in Postmenopausal Women

The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) was a prospective cohort study of 77,206 postmenopausal women (mean age at enrollment, 63) who underwent baseline assessments for physical and sedentary activity. In this analysis of WHI data, researchers explored the association between physical activity and hip and total fracture risk; participants were followed for a mean of 14 years, during which 25,516 women (33%) reported fractures.

Compared with inactive women, age-adjusted total relative fracture risk was significantly lower (by 6%–8%) among women with any level of physical activity. Multivariable-adjusted hip fracture relative risk was 18% lower among women with the highest level of physical activity (>17.7 metabolic equivalent hours/week, equival…