Low Bone Mass is Associated with Stroke in Chinese Postmenopausal Women: The Chongqing Osteoporosis Study

The objective of the present study was to investigate the association of low bone mass with the risk of stroke and death in community residents of China. This study was based on the follow-up data acquired from 5,136 postmenopausal women aged 50 years or older between July 2006 and June 2011. Baseline and the follow-up bone mineral density (BMD) in these patients were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scanning. The association of BMD and risk of stroke and death was further evaluated by Cox proportional hazard analysis. During the follow-up, 148 subjects (2.9 %) sustained prospective stroke, and 261 subjects (5.1 %) died. After adjustments for age and BMI, our results indicated that neck BMD and osteoporosis were independent predictors of stroke (HR for neck BMD = 1.35, 95 % CI = 1.21-1.62; HR for osteoporosis = 2.24, 95 % CI = 1.47-3.58) and were also associated with increased risk of death (HR for neck BMD = 1.39, 95 % CI = 1.24-1.71; HR for osteoporosis = 1.97, 95 % CI = 1.21-2.97). Our results also suggest that low neck BMD and osteoporosis are associated with significantly elevated risk of stroke and death in Chinese postmenopausal women.