Stress, mood and bone mass density in post menopausal women

This six-month prospective correlational study examined relationships among bone mass density (BMD), stress levels, and mood-state in 34 postmenopausal women, aged 45-to-60 years. Following receipt of informed consent, participants were recruited from a larger parent study of bone loss conducted at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) measured BMD at baseline (TO) and at the study's six-month (T6) endpoint. Three serum cortisol levels were assayed at TO, three-month (T3), and T6 intervals. Instruments that measured self reported life events stress (LES) included the Derogatis Stress Profile (DSP) and the investigator-developed Perceived Life Events Stress Scale (PLESS). In addition, each participant recorded self appraised levels of depressed mood with subscales of the DSP and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaires. During each of the next six months, participants completed one DSP and one PLESS instrument. In contrast, one POMS questionnaire was completed weekly over each of the next 26 weeks during this six-month study. Cronbach alphas tested instrument stability over time for subscales of the DSP (.81 to .95), the POMS (.96), and the PLESS (.57 to.90).; As serum cortisol levels increased over time, endpoint BMD decreased of H-BMD (hip), r = -.34, p = .036, and L-BMD (lumbar spine), r = -.39, p = .0195 (27df, p < .05, one-tailed). Similarly, as environmental LES (ES-DSP) increased, endpoint L-BMD decreased (r = -.39, p = .021); and as four-month levels of POMS depressed mood increased, endpoint H-BMD decreased, r = -.53, p = .002. Significant positive correlations were observed over time between ES-DSP and self report of depressed mood-state per the DSP, r = .65, p = .001, and the POMS, r = .49, p = .008. However, no significant relationship was found between LES and serum cortisol levels. Similarly, there was no significant relationship between levels of serum cortisol and the degree of depressed mood-state.; Results from a subset of 29 postmenopausal women suggest that BMD is adversely affected by LES and depressed mood-state. Study limitations include a small sample size, infrequent serum cortisol measures, and selfreport data of LES and depressed mood-state.