Method: Consenting Special Olympics athletes participating in a statewide competition were offered bone scans which followed the standardized Special Olympics Healthy Athletes protocol. All athletes voluntarily underwent calcaneal ultrasound scans to measure bone mineral density using the Sahara Clinical Sonometer (Hologic). In addition to the bone scans, participants were measured for height, weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure.
Analysis/Results: 201 Special Olympics athletes (130 male, 71 female) were used for this analysis. Participants mean age was 23.4 + 9.6 years. Overall, the majority of athletes (85.9%) were classified as having “normal” bone mineral density based on World Health Organization t-score criteria. An additional 9.8% were identified as having bone density lower than peak density (osteopenia). Only 1.8% of the sample had t-scores low enough for an osteoporosis classification. The remaining 2.5% either had high bone mineral density or were unable to be scanned (irregular heel shape, non-compliance, etc.). There were no significant gender differences when comparing bone mineral density. In addition, there was no relationship between age and bone mineral density.
Conclusions: Results from this sample demonstrate most athletes did not have osteopenia or osteoporosis. A variety of potential explanations could explain the results. One explanation could include larger body masses. Within this sample, 66% of participants were either overweight or obese. Increased body mass has been shown to produce increased mechanical stress on the bone and encourage increased bone mineral density. A second explanation could be the geographic location the sample was collected from. All participants were from the southwest and endogenously produce vitamin D as a result of more intense sun exposure. Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption and enables bone mineralization. Lastly, very few participants were of advanced age to experience age related bone loss. Lower bone mineral density in those with intellectual disability may substantially increase their risk of developing osteoporosis. Special Olympics has utilized bone screenings as a strategy to identify individuals with intellectual disability who are at risk for bone loss. Overall, results from this study suggest Special Olympics athletes have good bone health.