Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
Publisher
Wiley
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences / Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute
RAS ID
60470
Funders
National Health and Medical Research Council / Funding information: https://doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.4921
Grant Number
NHMRC Numbers : 254627, 303169, 572604
Grant Link
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/254627 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/303169 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/572604
Abstract
Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC), a recognized measure of advanced vascular disease, is associated with higher cardiovascular risk and poorer long-term prognosis. AAC can be assessed on dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-derived lateral spine images used for vertebral fracture assessment at the time of bone density screening using a validated 24-point scoring method (AAC-24). Previous studies have identified robust associations between AAC-24 score, incident falls, and fractures. However, a major limitation of manual AAC assessment is that it requires a trained expert. Hence, we have developed an automated machine-learning algorithm for assessing AAC-24 scores (ML-AAC24). In this prospective study, we evaluated the association between ML-AAC24 and long-term incident falls and fractures in 1023 community-dwelling older women (mean age, 75 ± 3 years) from the Perth Longitudinal Study of Ageing Women. Over 10 years of follow-up, 253 (24.7%) women experienced a clinical fracture identified via self-report every 4–6 months and verified by X-ray, and 169 (16.5%) women had a fracture hospitalization identified from linked hospital discharge data. Over 14.5 years, 393 (38.4%) women experienced an injurious fall requiring hospitalization identified from linked hospital discharge data. After adjusting for baseline fracture risk, women with moderate to extensive AAC (ML-AAC24 ≥ 2) had a greater risk of clinical fractures (hazard ratio [HR] 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10–1.85) and fall-related hospitalization (HR 1.35; 95% CI, 1.09–1.66), compared to those with low AAC (ML-AAC24 ≤ 1). Similar to manually assessed AAC-24, ML-AAC24 was not associated with fracture hospitalizations. The relative hazard estimates obtained using machine learning were similar to those using manually assessed AAC-24 scores. In conclusion, this novel automated method for assessing AAC, that can be easily and seamlessly captured at the time of bone density testing, has robust associations with long-term incident clinical fractures and injurious falls. However, the performance of the ML-AAC24 algorithm needs to be verified in independent cohorts. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).
DOI
10.1002/jbmr.4921
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Dalla Via, J., Gebre, A. K., Smith, C., Gilani, Z., Suter, D., Sharif, N., . . . Sim, M. (2023). Machine-learning assessed abdominal aortic calcification is associated with long-term fall and fracture risk in community-dwelling older Australian women. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.4921