Background

The effect of swimming on bone health remains unclear, namely due to discrepant findings between studies in humans and animal models.

Objective

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to identify the available evidence on the effects of swimming on bone mass, geometry and microarchitecture at the lumbar spine, femur and tibia in both humans and rodent animal models.

Methods

The study followed PRISMA guidelines and was registered at PROSPERO (CRD4202236347 and CRD42022363714 for human and animal studies). Two different systematic literature searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science, retrieving 36 and 16 reports for humans and animal models, respectively.

Results

In humans, areal bone mineral density (aBMD) was similar between swimmers and non-athletic controls at the lumbar spine, hip and femoral neck. Swimmers' tibia diaphysis showed a higher cross-sectional area but lower cortical thickness. Inconsistent findings at the femoral neck cortical thickness were found. Due to the small number of studies, trabecular microarchitecture in human swimmers was not assessed. In rodent models, aBMD was found to be lower at the tibia, but similar at the femur. Inconsistent findings in femur diaphysis cross-sectional area were observed. No differences in femur and tibia trabecular microarchitecture were found.

Conclusion

Swimming seems to affect bone health differently according to anatomical region. Studies in both humans and rodent models suggest that tibia cortical bone is negatively affected by swimming. There was no evidence of a negative effect of swimming on other bone regions, both in humans and animal models.

中文翻译：

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游泳运动会损害骨骼健康吗？比较人类和啮齿动物模型证据的系统回顾和荟萃分析

 背景

游泳对骨骼健康的影响尚不清楚，这是由于人类和动物模型研究之间的结果存在差异。

 客观的

本系统综述和荟萃分析的目的是确定游泳对人类和啮齿类动物模型中腰椎、股骨和胫骨的骨量、几何形状和微结构影响的现有证据。

 方法

该研究遵循 PRISMA 指南并在 PROSPERO 注册（用于人类和动物研究的 CRD4202236347 和 CRD42022363714）。在 PubMed、Scopus 和 Web of Science 上进行了两次不同的系统文献检索，分别检索了 36 篇和 16 篇关于人类和动物模型的报告。

 结果

在人类中，游泳者和非运动对照者的腰椎、髋部和股骨颈的面积骨矿物质密度（aBMD）相似。游泳运动员的胫骨骨干横截面积较大，但皮质厚度较低。股骨颈皮质厚度的结果不一致。由于研究数量较少，没有评估人类游泳运动员的小梁微结构。在啮齿动物模型中，胫骨的 aBMD 较低，但股骨的 aBMD 相似。观察到股骨骨干横截面积不一致的结果。股骨和胫骨小梁微结构没有发现差异。

 结论

游泳似乎对不同解剖区域的骨骼健康产生不同的影响。对人类和啮齿动物模型的研究表明，游泳会对胫骨皮质骨产生负面影响。在人类和动物模型中，没有证据表明游泳对其他骨骼区域产生负面影响。