The Associations Between Individual Anthropometric Measurements and Fracture Risk: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Abstract

Background: The primary objective of this study was to investigate and substantiate the possible causal connections between measurements of body dimensions and the likelihood of experiencing fractures.

Materials and methods: We employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to examine the associations between anthropometric measurements and two specific traits-bone mineral density and fracture risk. To ensure the credibility of our causal conclusions, we used the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method along with various sensitivity analyses.

Results: Our findings suggest a notable link between increased height and the likelihood of fractures. Specifically, employing the IVW method revealed that for every 10-cm increase in height, there was a 6.0% rise in fracture risk (odds ratio [OR], 1.06; 95% CI, 1.06-1.13; P=.0001). This outcome was further supported by both the weighted-median method and the MR-Egger method, with an OR of 1.10 (95% CI, 1.03-1.16; P=.0003) and an OR of 1.11 (95% CI, 1.08-1.17; P=.0020), respectively. No statistically significant associations were observed between other measurements, such as body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI, hip circumference adjusted for BMI, and waist circumference adjusted for BMI, and fracture risk. Sensitivity analyses, including MR-Egger regression's intercept test and multivariate testing, indicated no substantial presence of directional pleiotropy in instrumental variables, ensuring the stability and reliability of our analysis results.

Conclusion: Our study used MR to present genetic evidence supporting height as a distinct causal factor in fracture susceptibility. Our findings underscore the importance of incorporating anthropometric measurements into the development of strategies for preventing and treating osteoporosis. [Orthopedics. 2025;48(1):25-29.].