Effects of Adapted Physical Activity on Quality of Life, Physical Fitness and Fear of Falling in People with Osteoporosis

Undertaking regular physical activity is one of the major determinants of health. Indeed, Physical Activity (PA), when adapted and in the right dosage, can be considered a protection and even a therapy for some chronic diseases, including Osteoporosis (OP). Clinical and social OP implications are mainly due to osteoporotic fractures that reach 1/3 of menopausal women. Among OP fractures, vertebral ones are associated with a significant decline in Quality of Life (QoL) and disability. Therefore, OP and associated fractures constitute a major public health concern. In literature, no definitive conclusions are available regarding benefits of PA for individuals with OP and vertebral fractures. Furthermore, it is unclear which exercise is optimal for these patients. Lastly, there is no specific indication on the best setting in which to exercise in. For these reasons, this present thesis aims to increase the knowledge on the type of exercise and training adapted for people with OP and its relative effects on QoL, physical fitness and fear of falling. Moreover, effects of exercise on bone biomarkers are investigated to deepen the topic. Findings from these studies can admittedly contribute in providing information on the beneficial effects of Adapted Physical Activity (APA) programs and also identifying the type of safe exercise to prescribe for the osteoporotic population. Moreover, the role of these studies lies in defining possible future strategies to be applied by the involvement of health policy-makers, in order to primarily improve QoL in women with OP. Therefore, these indications are also intended to encourage the healthcare world to refer osteoporotic people to follow a healthy lifestyle, including APA programs regularly administered by trainers able to deal with these conditions, especially for the prevention of fractures which represent the first cause of decline in terms of QoL, physical fitness and fear of falling.