Associations of residential greenness with bone mineral density and osteoporosis: the modifying effect of genetic susceptibility.

Objectives: To investigate the associations of residential greenness with bone mineral density and incident osteoporosis, and further evaluate the potential modifying effect of genetic susceptibility.

Methods: We used the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at various buffer distances, including 300 m (NDVI), 500 m (NDVI), 1000 m (NDVI) and 1500 m (NDVI), to serve as indicators of greenness. We fitted linear regression, logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models to assess the associations of residential greenness with estimated bone mineral density (eBMD), prevalent osteoporosis and incident osteoporosis, respectively. With the Polygenic Risk Score (PRS) for osteoporosis, we further assessed the joint effects of genetic risk and greenness on the risk of osteoporosis. We conducted causal mediation analyses to explore potential mediators.

Results: Each IQR increase in NDVI was associated with 0.0007 (95% CI 0.0002 to 0.0013) increase in eBMD, 6% lower risk of prevalent osteoporosis (OR 0.94; 95% CI 0.92 to 0.97) and 5% lower risk of incident osteoporosis (HR 0.95; 95% CI 0.93 to 0.98). The joint effects of greenness and PRS on the risk of osteoporosis displayed a clear dose-response pattern. Compared with individuals exposed to low NDVI levels and high genetic risk, those exposed to high NDVI levels and low genetic risk had a 56% (95% CI 51% to 61%) lower risk of osteoporosis. The primary mediators in the association between greenness and incident osteoporosis were identified as PM and NO.

Conclusions: Residential greenness was associated with higher bone mineral density and decreased risk of incident osteoporosis.