Relationship of volumetric bone mineral density by quantitative computed tomography with abdominal aortic calcification

Abstract Objective This multicenter study aimed to evaluate the association between volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) in a Chinese population. Methods Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) and Agatston score (AS) were used to measure vBMD and AAC, respectively, in 3457 participants during 2013–2017. The association between vBMD and AAC was assessed using multivariate regression analysis, adjusted for age, residence, education, body mass index, and other cardiovascular risk factors. Results The mean age of women and men was 61.4 and 62.7 years, respectively. In total, 30.4% of women and 37.7% of men were found to have AAC. After full adjustment, higher vBMD was associated with lower AAC score (β, −0.095; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.167 to −0.024; P = 0.0087) and lower AAC prevalence (odds ratio [OR], 0.873; 95% CI, 0.824 to 0.924; P  Conclusions In our study, vBMD was inversely associated with AAC among men independent of age and shared risk factors. However, the association was not significant among women.