Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate and determine the differences in T and Z values of proximal femour (femoral neck, trochanter, intertrochanter and ward’s triangle) region bone mineral density (BMD) among high level male athletes of different branches. The study was completed with the voluntary attendance of a total of 42 uninjured male national athletes in different branches (taekwondo 12, wrestling 8, judo 10 and runners 12) whose ages vary between 18 to 25 and whose athletic carrier is intact with at least 8 to 10 years of regular exercise. BMD measurements of athletes were completed with the dual energy x-ray absorbtiometric (DEXA) technology using Hologic QDR 4500W device on proximal femour (femoral neck, trochanter, intertrochanter and ward’s triangle) region. The recorded BMD and the T and Z values after measurements of the proximal femour region were completed and have been used for calculations of the statistical data. Comparison of the BMD and T and Z values in different athletic branches has indicated that the highest BMD and T and Z values are found in wrestlers, followed by judo, runners and lastly taekwondo. Between the different athletic branches, the statistical comparison of the proximal femour (femoral neck, trochanter, intertrochanter and ward’s triangle) region of BMD and T and Z values was carried out and the differences were detected (P < 0.05). Generally, the values of BMD and T, Z among wrestlers are found to be higher than athletes of judo, taekwondo and runners (P < 0.05), but these values show statistical similarity with athletes of judo, while showing differences with runners and taekwondo (P < 0.05). Athletes of judo, taekwondo and runners are statisticaly similar to each other (P > 0.05), and it is seen that the lowest value of BMD has been found in athletes of taekwondo, while the lowest value of T and  Z has been found in runners. The reason why the values of BMD, T and Z are recorded higher among wrestlers than other athletes is thought to be the exercises that add more mechanical weight onto the bone as a matter of their athletic branch. These indicators show that there can be differences in the formation of proximal femour bone mineral density between different athletic branches, especially among the high level male athletes whose activity is mainly composed of intense weight loading exercises on the bones.

Key words: Athletes, proximal femour, bone mineral density, exercises.