Countermovement jump peak force discriminates low hip bone mineral density in postmenopausal women

Postmenopausal women are at increased risk of low bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporotic fractures, yet access to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) remains limited in many settings. This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of countermovement jump (CMJ)-derived variables for identifying low BMD in postmenopausal women. In this diagnostic accuracy study, 123 postmenopausal women underwent DXA assessment at the lumbar spine and total hip and performed CMJ testing on a force plate to obtain jump height, peak force, and peak power. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to assess accuracy. Overall, 21.1% of participants had low BMD. CMJ variables showed low accuracy for the lumbar spine and when sites were analyzed jointly (AUC < 0.70). In contrast, peak force (AUC = 0.78) and peak power (AUC = 0.72) demonstrated moderate accuracy for identifying low total hip BMD. A cutoff ≤ 1101.1 N for peak force yielded 66.7% sensitivity and 91.2% specificity. After adjustment for age and years since menopause, only peak force remained significantly associated with low hip BMD (OR = 17.6; p = 0.001). These findings suggest that CMJ-derived peak force may serve as a preliminary screening tool to identify postmenopausal women at risk of low hip BMD, however, the proposed cutoff is exploratory and requires external validation before clinical implementation.