Factors Associated With Kyphosis and Kyphosis Progression in Older Men: The MrOS Study.

Abstract

Hyperkyphosis (HK), or increased anterior curvature of the thoracic spine, is common in older persons. Although it is thought that vertebral fractures are the major cause of HK, only about a third of those with the worst degrees of kyphosis have underlying vertebral fractures. In older men, HK is associated with increased risk of poor physical function, injurious falls, and earlier mortality, but its causes are not well understood. We studied 1092 men from the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study aged 64 to 92?years (mean age 72.8?years) who had repeated standardized radiographic measures of Cobb angle of kyphosis to identify risk factors for HK (defined as =50 degrees) and kyphosis progression over an interval of 4.7?years. Specifically, we examined the associations with age, body mass index (BMI), weight, weight loss, health behaviors, family history of HK, muscle strength, degenerative disc disease (DDD), bone mineral density (BMD), prevalent thoracic vertebral fractures, and incident thoracic vertebral fractures (longitudinal analyses only). Men had an average baseline kyphosis of 38.9 (standard deviation [SD] 11.4) degrees. Fifteen percent had HK (n =?161) with a mean Cobb angle of 56.7 (SD = 6.0) degrees; these men were older (p

View details for DOI 10.1002/jbmr.4123

View details for PubMedID 32615004