Smoking predicts incident fractures in elderly men: Mr OS Sweden

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between smoking and bone mineral density (BMD) and radiographically verified prevalent vertebral fractures and incident fractures in elderly men. At baseline 3003 men aged 69 to 80 years of age from the Swedish Mr Os Study completed a standard questionnaire concerning smoking habits and had BMD of the hip and spine measured using dualenergy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA); 1412 men had an X-ray of the thoracic- and lumbar spine. Radiologic registers were used to confirm reported new fractures after the baseline visit. At baseline, 8.4% were current smokers. Current smokers had a 6.2% lower BMD at the total hip and a 5.4% lower BMD at the lumbar spine ( p