Citation

Lanhers C, Courteix D, Valente-Dos-Santos J, Ferry B, Gracia-Marco L, Pereira B, Borda IM, Lespessailles E, Duclos M. J. Sports Sci. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Unité De Nutrition Humaine (UNH), Université Clermont Auvergne, INRA, Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02640414.2020.1735982

PMID

32149566

Abstract

Purpose: This study determined the impact of menstrual status on bone tissue in elite post-pubertal female soccer players over an entire season.Methods: Fifty-one elite female soccer players participated. At baseline, forty-one were assigned to the low hormonal androgenic profile (low-HAPL) and 10 to the high hormonal androgenic profile (high-HAPL).Results: An 8-month training program led to increased bone mineral density content (p<0.05). The low-HAPL athletes improved the Narrow neck average cortical thickness (ACT) by 1.4% and reduced the corresponding Buckling ratio (BR) by 2.6%, thus decreasing the fracture risk (p<0.05). The high-HAPL athletes decreased the Narrow neck ACT by 5.4% and increased the BR by 2.6%, increasing fracture risk (p<0.05). Differences were assigned as being "very likely beneficial" for the low-HAPL athletes, supported by very large (d=3.41) and large (d=1.58) effect sizes for the Narrow neck ACT and BR, respectively.Conclusion: A season of soccer training has induced bone geometry improvements in adolescent females. Bone health parameters improved in the two clusters. However, high-HAPL athletes decreased its resistance to loading compare to low-HAPL athletes. Even if female players do not present clinical symptoms related to their hormonal status, sport medicine physicians should pay attention to their structural bone fragility.

Language: en

Keywords

Soccer; adolescent gonadal hormones; bone geometry; bone mineral density; cluster analysis; female athlete