Paper Title
Comparison of Prevalence of Osteopenia and Osteoporosis Assessed by Densitometry Between Elite Climbers and Non-Athletic Postmenopausal Women

Abstract
The goal of this study was to compare the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis of the lumbar spine, determined by densitometry using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) between elite climbers and non-athletic postmenopausal women. In this descriptive study, a total of 30 postmenopausal women aged 48 at 55 years old (15 elite climber and 15 non-athletic postmenopausal women) was randomly selected.The assessment of Bone Mineral Density (BMD) was performed by DEXA, and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, we have calculated the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis of elite climbers and non-athletic postmenopausal women at the lumbar spine on base on two criteria T-score and Z-score. The collected data were analyzed through independent t-test statistical methods (p≤0/05) using SPSS-15 software. The result of this study showed that the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis in lumbar spines was significantly more than non-athletes. It seems that mountaineering can increase the BMD of lumbar spines in postmenopausal women, and therefore, it can decrease the prevalence of osteoporosis. Thus, we can conclude that the physical activities such as mountaineering play an important role in preventing of osteoporosis as an effective non-medical method. Keywords - Osteopenia, Osteoporosis, Elite Climbers