The Association between Bone Quality and Atherosclerosis: Results from Two Large Population-Based Studies

Table 2

Associations between a decrease in QUS-based parameters and IMT.

Exposure	Adjustment	Men			Women
		β-Coefficient	SE		β-Coefficient	SE
BUA	Unadjusted	0.009	0.003	<0.01	0.034	0.003	<0.01
SOS		0.020	0.003	<0.01	0.038	0.002	<0.01
Stiffness index		0.016	0.003	<0.01	0.039	0.002	<0.01
Risk: medium versus low		0.022	0.007	<0.01	0.053	0.005	<0.01
Risk: high versus low		0.052	0.148	<0.01	0.113	0.010	<0.01
BUA	Fully adjusted	−0.002	0.002	0.32	−0.003	0.002	0.13
SOS		−0.003	0.002	0.28	−0.000	0.002	0.87
Stiffness index		−0.003	0.002	0.25	−0.002	0.002	0.34
Risk: medium versus low		−0.004	0.004	0.34	−0.003	0.004	0.50
Risk: high versus low		−0.010	0.008	0.19	−0.007	0.008	0.38

BUA: broadband ultrasound attenuation; IMT: intima-media thickness; QUS: quantitative ultrasound; SD: standard deviation; SE: standard error; SOS: speed of sound. β-Coefficients, standard errors (SE), and values from linear regression models. For BUA, SOS, and stiffness index, a one standard deviation decrease was modelled. A one standard deviation of BUA for men and women: 13.7 and 14.7 dB/MHz; SOS: 37.5 and 33.5 m/s; stiffness index: 18.1 and 17.5. Full adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking status, physical inactivity, risky alcohol consumption, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and, in women, additionally intake of estrogens (oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy) and years since menopause.