PURPOSE:
To determine the relationship between total body and trunk fat mass and gait performance in postmenopausal women.
METHODS:
Thirty-nine postmenopausal women aged 50 years or more were studied. The following items were determined: weight and height to calculate body mass index (BMI), body composition using the technique of Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA), and gait using baropodometry. The body composition variables used were total body fat, percent body fat and trunk fat, while the gait variables were percent double stance time and single stance time and gait speed. The women were divided into two groups according to the median for each body composition variable: less and more body fat, less and more percent body fat and less and more trunk fat. To compare the gait variables between groups, we used the Mann-Whitney test. To evaluate the possible relationships between body composition variables and gait variables, we used the Spearman correlation test. All analyses were performed with the level of significance set at 5%.
RESULTS:
The group with more trunk fat showed longer double stance time (p=0.007) and lower values of single stance time (0.033) than the group with less trunk fat. We found significant and positive correlations between trunk fat and double stance time (R=0.40) and negative correlations between trunk fat and single stance time (R=-0.32).
CONCLUSION:
Postmenopausal women with a greater amount of trunk fat tended to have impaired gait performance.
Menopause; Body composition; Gait; Body fat distribution; Women
