Association of heel bone mineral density with incident dementia among ageing adults: a population-based study from the UK Biobank

Jun Lu; Frank Mastaglia; Andrew Chi Pang Tai; Max K Bulsara; William G Blakeney; Charles A Inderjeeth; Minghao Zheng; Jun Yuan

doi:10.1007/s40520-025-03100-w

Association of heel bone mineral density with incident dementia among ageing adults: a population-based study from the UK Biobank

Jun Lu, Frank Mastaglia, Andrew Chi Pang Tai, Max K Bulsara, William G Blakeney, Charles A Inderjeeth, Minghao Zheng Jun Yuan

Aging clinical and experimental research, Vol.37(1), 217

2025

: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-025-03100-w

: 40668308

(1)

pdf

Published1.58 MB

Open Access

Aged

Aging

Biological Specimen Banks

Bone Density - physiology

Dementia - epidemiology

Female

Heel - diagnostic imaging

Humans

Incidence

Male

Middle Aged

Osteoporosis - epidemiology

Proportional Hazards Models

Retrospective Studies

Risk Factors

UK Biobank

United Kingdom - epidemiology

Background Osteoporosis and dementia are two common disorders mainly affecting ageing population, and heel estimated bone mineral density (eBMD) measured by quantitative ultrasound (QUS) has been demonstrated to be a reliable and non-invasive method for assessing skeletal health. The aim of this study is to determine the association between eBMD and incident dementia in older adults. Methods This retrospective cohort study employs UK Biobank data of 131,030 adults aged ≥ 60 years without dementia at baseline. Cox proportional-hazards models were used to investigate the association between eBMD and incident dementia, with the C-index evaluating the discriminative potential of eBMD. Results Among participants (52.1% women, median [IQR] age was 64 [62–66] years), there were 4,572 cases (3.5%) of incident dementia. Minimal model showed that participants with low eBMD (< 0.467 g/cm2) had a 14% increase in the rate of dementia incidence (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.06–1.23; P <.001), and each standard deviation (SD) decrease in eBMD was associated with a 49% increase in dementia risk (HR 1.49, 95% CI 1.19–1.86; P <.001). Such association remained significant after further adjustment for potential confounders. Stratified analyses revealed that lower eBMD increased dementia risk in male participants (HR 1.17, 95% CI 1.06–1.31; P =.003) and in participants with neutral (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.05–1.33; P =.007) or low genetic risk (HR 1.36, 95% CI 1.01–1.83; P =.04). Sensitivity analyses showed similar results. However, discriminative analyses showed minimal improvement after adding eBMD to dementia prediction models. Conclusion Lower heel eBMD is independently associated with increased dementia risk among older adults.

: Association of heel bone mineral density with incident dementia among ageing adults: a population-based study from the UK Biobank
: Jun Lu - The University of Western Australia
Frank Mastaglia - Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science
Andrew Chi Pang Tai - Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, University of Western Australia, 8 Verdun St, Nedlands, WA, 6009, Australia
Max K Bulsara - The University of Notre Dame Australia
William G Blakeney - The University of Western Australia
Charles A Inderjeeth - The University of Western Australia
Minghao Zheng - The University of Western Australia
Jun Yuan - Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science
: Aging clinical and experimental research, Vol.37(1), 217
: Springer Nature
: 991005884940407891
: Research and Innovation Office
: English
: Journal article

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