Association between neck circumference and bone mineral loss: A cross-sectional study in Sichuan province in China

Abstract

BackgroundThe associations of fat distribution with bone health are debatable. We aimed to investigate the associations between neck circumference (NC) and bone mineral loss among the adult Chinese population in Sichuan province. MethodsWe examined overall NC size and NC stratums (≤35 cm, 35<NC≤38 cm,>38 cm) with bone mineral density (BMD) at the femoral neck, lumbar spine, total hip skeletal sites in 135 men and 479 women respectively, and assessed whether adiposity, lipids, and calcium and phosphorus levels, might have a biased role in the relationship of NC and bone mineral loss with linear regression, logistic regression, and restricted cubic spline models. ResultsThe overall NC size is not independently associated with BMD at all sites. However, stratification for NC revealed that the positive correlation between NC and BMD at all sites were significant in the NC stratum 1 (≤35 cm) in women (all p < 0.05) and NC stratum 2 (35<NC≤38 cm) in men (all p < 0.05). Further linear regression analyses showed NC stratum 2 was positively correlated with BMD at all sites in men after adjustment for all confounders, and the risk of low bone mass was generally increased in men with NC stratum 3 (>38 cm) compared with NC stratum 1 using logistic regression. However, in women, no statistically significant association was observed between NC stratum 1 and BMD values after adjustment for the same confounders. ConclusionsOur findings suggest a NC stratum-specific association between NC size and bone mineral loss in men in Sichuan province in China, but not in women.