Abstract 15085: Association Between Bone Mineral Density and Incident Heart Failure in a Biracial Cohort of Older Adults: The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study

Abstract

Background: Osteoporosis and heart failure (HF) are age-related disorders that share some pathogenetic features and may influence each other. Previous studies have suggested an association between bone mineral density (BMD) and HF risk, which may be race-dependent. We sought to further investigate race- and sex-specific associations of BMD with HF in a longitudinal study of older adults. Methods: We evaluated the relationship between BMD and HF in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study, a sample of community-dwelling adults aged 70-79. BMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of the total hip and femoral neck, and in half the cohort by computed tomography of the spine. Analyses were stratified a priori by sex and race, and Cox models were used to estimate risk after adjustment for potential confounders. Results: Of 2835 participants, 572 (49% women, 42% black) developed HF during a median follow up of 12.2 years. Lower BMD of the total hip by DXA was associated with higher risk of HF in black women (adj. HR 1.84 [95% CI, 1.43 - 2.37] per SD decrement), with suggestion of lower risk in black men that was not significant (adj. HR 0.81 [0.64 - 1.02]). Corresponding analyses failed to reveal significant associations in white women (adj. HR 0.86 [0.71-1.04]) or white men (adj. HR 1.10 [0.93 - 1.30]). There were a significant interaction of total hip BMD by sex among blacks (p=0.002), but not whites (p=0.363), as well as by race among women (p=0.026) and men (p=0.049). Relationships of BMD of the femoral neck were similar in all groups. Likewise, lower volumetric BMD of the spine was associated with higher risk in black women (adj. HR 1.34 [1.02 - 1.77] per SD decrement), but there were no significant associations in black men (adj. HR 0.91 [0.78 - 1.18]), white women (adj. HR 0.83 [0.64 - 1.08]), or white men (adj. HR 1.17 [0.95 - 1.44]). Conclusions: Among a biracial cohort of older adults, lower BMD was associated with higher risk of HF in black women, with no clear evidence of an association in white women or in men of either race. Further research is needed to understand the factors that may account for the particular association in black women, and whether these can be leveraged for therapeutic intervention.