The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations between grip strength change and postmenopausal bone loss. The study population, 622 peri- and postmenopausal women, was a random sample of the OSTPRE-study cohort (n=13,100) in Kuopio, Finland. Bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) was measured with dual X-ray absorptiometry and grip strength with a pneumatic squeeze dynamometer at baseline in 1989-1991, at the 5-year follow-up in 1994-1997 and at the 10-year follow-up in 1999-2001. Women were divided into three groups according to the change in age-grouped grip strength quartile they belonged to in each measurement (n in 5-year/10-year follow-up): "decreased" (n=150/n=140), "maintained" (n=314/n=320) and "improved" (n=158/n=162). Women within the improved group had significantly lower bone loss at both FN and LS in comparison to the other two groups after 10 years of follow-up (P