To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the factors associated with discordance in the percentage of YAM in a population with an average age of > 75 years. Using multivariate logistic regression analyses, Mounach et al. showed that age, menopause, and obesity contributed to discordant spine–femur T-scores in 3479 patients with a mean age of 55.7 years.6 Moayyeri et al. investigated 4299 patients with an average age of 53.4 years and reported the causes of discordant T-scores to be age, obesity, menopause, and late menopause.7 Furthermore, Singh et al. reported a significant association of discordant T-scores with age > 50 years, premature menopause, and multiple pregnancies.8 The average age of the individuals in the aforementioned studies was in the mid-50s, which is younger than the typical age of patients requiring treatment for primary osteoporosis.
Our study population closely reflects the age range of patients with osteoporosis in today’s aging society. Similar to previous reports, this study found age to be the most important factor associated with spine–femur discordance in the percentage of YAM. Notably, 58.5% of patients in their 80s and 77.4% of those in their 90s had a spine–femur discordance rate of > 10% of YAM (group A). Age-related pathological findings, such as osteophytes, facet hyperplasia, endplate sclerosis, and aortic calcification, are more prominent in the LS than in the FN.10–13 In contrast, FN BMD is affected by osteoarthritis of the hip joint.14 Yoshimura et al. reported that the prevalence of advanced-stage hip arthrosis was 3.5% (men, 1.0%; women, 6.1%), which is much lower than that of degenerative lumbar spondylosis.15
Our findings show that sex is also a significant factor in spine–femur discordance in the percentage of YAM, which is a novel finding. This study focused on the elderly and its findings may be epidemiologically plausible based on data from the Research on Osteoarthritis/Osteoporosis Against Disability study, which showed that the prevalence of deformity associated with lumbar spondylosis with a Kellgren–Lawrence grade ≥ 2 was 85.3% and 74.8%, respectively, for men and women in their 70s and 89.6% and 78.3% for men and women aged > 80 years.11 Moreover, Mitchell et al. reported that abdominal aortic calcification was more severe in men than in women in 336 cases at autopsy.16 Accordingly, the prevalence of lumbar degeneration and abdominal aortic calcification in men is higher than that in women, which may lead to an increase in LS BMD.
This study also showed that diabetes mellitus was a significant independent predictor of increased spine–femur discordance in the percentage of YAM. Interestingly, the percentage of YAM at LS for men with diabetes mellitus increased with age (Fig. 2a). This is a rare finding and was not observed for any other factors. Although the correlation coefficient was not particularly high, an in-depth investigation of the reason behind this is necessary. In contrast, when male sex and diabetes mellitus were excluded, women without diabetes mellitus showed much less spine–femur discordance in the percentage of YAM at the corresponding age than did men with diabetes mellitus (Fig. 2a, b). Hong et al. recently showed that the prevalence of diabetes mellitus was higher in both men and women when the LS T-score was higher than the FN T-score.17 However, the reason was not clarified. A meta-analysis indicated that type 2 diabetes mellitus affected both LS and FN BMD.18 Increased BMD has been reported in patients with type 2 diabetes due to obesity and abnormal adipokine secretion.19 Special management strategies are needed for patients with type 2 diabetes because their bones are fragile; they have porous cortical bone due to increased levels of advanced glycation end products.20 The reasons for the increase in spine–femur discordance in the percentage of YAM in patients with diabetes mellitus are presumably as follows. Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), a condition characterized by ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament of the spine, generally increases the BMD of the spine.21 Although the etiological factors have not yet been elucidated, HLA-B8 is common in both DISH and diabetes.22 At an average age of 65 years, 10.8% of Japanese individuals (22.0% male, 2.5% female) had DISH.23 Moreover, aortic calcification, which is common in diabetic patients, contributed to increased LS BMD,24 and may be a cause of the spine–femur discordance in the percentage of YAM. Calcification of the femoral artery had no effect because it was not anatomically within the measurement field of the FN on DXA. In contrast, the thicker abdominal aorta had more impact as it was in the measurement field of the LS.
Recently, measuring the CT value of lumbar cancellous bone in the area while excluding degenerative changes and vascular calcifications has proven useful for evaluating BMD.25 The HU measurement had excellent inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. Pickhardt et al. reported that HU values of 110 and 135, respectively, were 90% specific for detecting osteoporosis and osteopenia at L1.26 Abdominal CT scans previously performed for visceral disease could be useful for vertebral HU measurement in the elderly population. Thoracic vertebral CT values have also been reported to be useful for detecting bone loss.27 Therefore, CT assessment may be an alternative method for measuring local BMD in cases with spine–femur discordance in the percentage of YAM due to degenerative change and aortic calcification. A limitation of CT is the consequent radiation exposure, which is low for one DXA scan of the LS (1.7 µGy),28 but substantially higher for a CT scan at the same site (10 µGy).29
This study has several limitations that should be acknowledged. First, there were fewer men than women in the population studied, which would be expected given that osteoporosis is a more prevalent disease in women. However, there were 269 men in the study, which was considered sufficient for statistical analysis. Second, we included degenerative vertebrae and vertebral fractures, whose prevalence increases with age, were included in the study. Therefore, a nested case-control study is necessary to investigate factors other than aging in depth. Third, we excluded patients who had implants in both hips because the FN BMD was unmeasurable. Many patients with hip fractures were expected to have low FN BMD. Contrastingly, most cases of total hip replacement were done due to hip osteoarthritis that would not cause low FN BMD. Finally, the study population included patients who had undergone DXA testing for diagnosis of osteoporosis as well as those who were being treated with drugs for osteoporosis. Most drugs used to prevent or treat osteoporosis lead to formation of more cancellous bone than cortical bone. The LS, which is rich in cancellous bone, tended to have a higher increase in the percentage of YAM than the FN, owing to the administration of bisphosphonates and parathyroid hormone products.30 Therefore, the first test value was used to minimize the effects of medication in patients undergoing multiple DXA tests.