Abstract

Backgrounds and aims: Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) is associated with weaker grip strength, an established risk factor for fall-related hospitalizations. However, its association with long-term fall-related hospitalisations remains unknown. This study investigated the association between AAC and long-term fall-related hospitalizations in community-dwelling older women.

Methods: Fall-related hospitalizations were obtained from linked data over 14.5-years in a prospective cohort of 1053 older women (mean age 75.0 ± 2.6 years). At baseline (1998/99), AAC was assessed from lateral spine images obtained using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and scored using a semi-quantitative method (AAC24, range 0–24). The presence of any AAC was defined by AAC24 ≥ 1.

Results: Over 14.5-years, 413 (39.2%) women experienced a fall-related hospitalization. In the multivariable-adjusted model, each unit increase in baseline AAC24 was associated with a 3% increase in relative hazards for a fall-related hospitalization (HR 1.03 95%CI, 1.01 to 1.07). Compared to women with no AAC, women with any AAC had a 40% (HR 1.40 95%CI, 1.11 to 1.76) and 39% (HR 1.39 95%CI, 1.10 to 1.76) greater risk for fall-related hospitalizations in the minimal and multivariable-adjusted models, respectively. This relationship was not attenuated by including measures of muscle function such as grip strength and timed-up-and-go.

Conclusions: The presence of AAC is associated with long-term fall-related hospitalizations risk, independent of muscle function, in community-dwelling older women. Concurrent assessment of AAC may be a simple and cost-effective way to identify older women at higher risk of falling as part of routine osteoporosis screening.

Keywords

Abdominal aortic calcification, Ageing, Falls, Muscle function, Vascular calcification

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

7-31-2021

Volume

328

PubMed ID

34120736

Publication Title

Atherosclerosis

Publisher

Elsevier

School

Institute for Nutrition Research / School of Medical and Health Sciences

RAS ID

35692

Funding Information

The study was funded by Healthway the Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia project grants (254627, 303169 and 572604) and a Rebecca L. Cooper Medical Research Foundation grant. The salary of M.S is supported by a Royal Perth Hospital Research Foundation Career Advancement Fellowship. The salary of J.M.H is supported by a NHMRC of Australia Senior Research Fellowship. The salary of J.R.L is supported by a National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellowship (ID: 102817). N.P.B is funded by a NHMRC of Australia Early Career Fellowship (ID: 1159914). The salary of L.C.B is supported by an NHMRC of Australia Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant (ID: 1172987) and a National Heart Foundation of Australia Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (ID: 102498). D.P.K's time was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R01 AR 041398).

Funding received from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

254627, 303169, 572604, 1159914, 1172987

Administering Institution

Edith Cowan University

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Comments

This is an author's accepted manuscript of: Gebre, A. K., Sim, M., Rodríguez, A. J., Hodgson, J. M., Blekkenhorst, L. C., Szulc, P., ... Lewis, J. R. (2021). Abdominal aortic calcification is associated with a higher risk of injurious fall-related hospitalizations in older Australian women. Atherosclerosis, 328, 153-159.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2021.05.003

First Page

153

Content Type

Full object

Last Page

159

Recommended Citation

Gebre, A. K., Sim, M., Rodríguez, A. J., Hodgson, J. M., Blekkenhorst, L. C., Szulc, P., ... Lewis, J. R. (2021). Abdominal aortic calcification is associated with a higher risk of injurious fall-related hospitalizations in older Australian women. Atherosclerosis, 328, 153-159.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2021.05.003

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2021.05.003

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) ROR ID:

011kf5r70

Edith Cowan University (ECU) ROR ID:

05jhnwe22