Automated abdominal aortic calcification, muscle health, and incident falls: the UK Biobank Imaging Study
Authors' conclusion
Greater ML-AAC24 extent, which can be opportunistically identified during routine bone density testing, was associated with poorer muscle composition and, function, sarcopenia and incident falls in community-dwelling adults.
Study context
- Population
- Community-dwelling adults (mean age 64.6 ± 7.8 years, 50.9% women); Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) scored by machine learning algorithm on DXA lateral spine imagesn varies by outcome
- Exposure
- Moderate and high vs low ML-AAC24
- Outcome
- Low fat-free muscle volume (FFMV) (MRI-derived)
Methodological detailsUK Biobank Imaging Study, multivariable-adjusted logistic and Cox proportional hazards regressions
- UK Biobank Imaging Study
- Multivariable-adjusted logistic and Cox proportional hazards regressions
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Each group vs lowOdds ratio (95% CI)
Moderate
1.58(1.28–1.95)
High
2.52(1.88–3.38)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | Estimate | |
|---|---|---|
| High MFIModeratevs Low | OR 1.09 (95% CI 1.01–1.18) | |
| High MFIHighvs Low | OR 1.45 (95% CI 1.29–1.64) | |
| Low ALMModeratevs Low | OR 1.14 (95% CI 1.04–1.24) | |
| Low ALMHighvs Low | OR 1.28 (95% CI 1.11–1.47) | |
| Weak handgrip strengthModeratevs Low | OR 1.18 (95% CI 1.07–1.29) | |
| Weak handgrip strengthHighvs Low | OR 1.24 (95% CI 1.09–1.42) | |
| SarcopeniaModeratevs Low | OR 1.40 (95% CI 1.12–1.76) | |
| SarcopeniaHighvs Low | OR 1.69 (95% CI 1.24–2.29) | |
| Incident fall-related hospitalisationHighvs Low | HR 1.31 (95% CI 1.02–1.68) | |
| 0.512Ratio (log scale) |
- Incident fall-related hospitalisation: n=48,482
Original publication
Automated abdominal aortic calcification, muscle health, and incident falls: the UK Biobank Imaging Study. J Bone Miner Res. Published 21 May 2026. doi:10.
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