Relationship between bone mineral density and a 10-year risk for coronary artery disease in a healthy Korean population

Introduction Bone mineral density (BMD) is associated with atherosclerosis and vascular calcification. If BMD is related independently to the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), BMD could play an important role in CHD risk prediction. We assessed the hypothesis that BMD is related independently to the risk of CHD. Materials and methods We used data from the fourth and fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. The study sample included men and women aged 20–79 years, who did not have myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, stroke, or diabetes mellitus. We evaluated the relationship between BMD and the Framingham risk score for each sex. Results In the male population, femur neck BMD [coefficient=−2.167, 95% confidence interval (CI) −3.385 to −0.950, P=0.001] and lumbar spine BMD (coefficient=−1.539, 95% CI −2.546 to −0.532, P=0.003) showed an inverse correlation with the Framingham risk score after adjusting for covariates. In the female population, the relationship between BMD parameters and the Framingham risk score was not significant after adjusting for covariates. In the male population, those with femur neck BMD values in the first quartile had greater odds of a 10-year risk greater than or equal to 10% for CHD compared with those in the fourth quartile (odds ratio=1.942, 95% CI 1.315–2.869, P<0.001). Conclusion BMD was correlated inversely with the 10-year risk for CHD in the healthy male population. This result suggests that in the male population, measurement of BMD could be useful for prediction of the risk of CHD.