Research Problems Objectives of the Study

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5. Physical Activity

In premenopausal women, high-impact exercise has been suggested to be the most effective regimen. In women the loss of bone mass accelerates as they go through menopause due to a reduction in estrogen level.

B. Research Problems

Osteoporosis impacts both morbidity e.g. pain, fractures and immobility in life. As people are getting older, osteoporosis will affect a constant bigger part of the population. Although nowadays there are more educated people, but as the structure of the society has changed, people for instance use more cars and have more passive professions, the total physical activity in a population is markedly reduced. It‟s estimated that 30-50 of the women and 15-30 of men suffer from osteoporotic associated fracture during lifetime. Therefore, it is necessary to determine whether higher levels of physical activity reduce the incidence of distal forearm and proximal humerus, hip and vertebral osteoporotic fractures among Malaysian women 50 years of age and older. This study addresses the following questions: 1. Why exercise is important to reduce osteoporosis fracture? 2. How physical activity is effective to treat osteoporosis fracture? 3. What are preventive methods to reduce osteoporosis fractures? perpustakaan.uns.ac.id commit to user 9 The current study investigates the pattern of past physical activity in 3 levels of mild, moderate and vigorous at various stages throughout life, and evaluates the impact of physical activity on future osteoporosis.

C. Objectives of the Study

This study aims to explore the impact of physical activity on bone strength to reduce the incidence of osteoporosis, morbidity and mortality related osteoporosis among older Malaysian women of 50 years and older from the perspective of physical activity. The objectives of this study are as follows: 1. To determine incidence of osteoporosis and osteoporosis fractures among Malaysian women of 50 years and older 2. To define the relationship between osteoporosis fractures and physical activity 3. To examine the impact of exercise frequency on osteoporosis fracture among Malaysian women of 50 years and older 4. To study the risk factors associated with osteoporosis among Malaysian women of 50 years and older 5. To increase health awareness among older Malaysian women in order to deal with the disease in a better efficient way. perpustakaan.uns.ac.id commit to user 10

D. Significance of Study