Association between physique characteristics and hand skeletal aging status

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Anthropometry
• Radiology

Background:

• Skeletal aging is influenced by various factors, including genetics and lifestyle.
• Understanding the relationship between physique and skeletal aging is crucial for epidemiological studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between skeletal aging indicators from hand radiographs and diverse physique characteristics.
• To explore correlations with obesity indices, skeletal size, muscular development, and somatotypes (Heath-Carter and Deriabin).

Main Methods:

• Utilized multiple regression analysis, Pearson's correlation, and canonical correlation analyses.
• Examined hand radiographs from 629 males and 561 females (aged 18-90 years) from the Chuvasha population.
• Assessed physique characteristics including somatotypes, obesity indices, skeletal size, and muscular development.

Main Results:

• Cortical index correlated significantly with adiposity and overall physique index.
• Bone mineral density (BMD) showed correlations with Deriabin's somatotypes, explaining 2% of variation.
• Hand osteoarthritis traits significantly correlated with adiposity indices and somatotype components (predicting 2-3% variation).
• Osseometric score correlated with most physique indices and somatotype components.

Conclusions:

• Body composition is a statistically significant factor associated with skeletal aging.
• Findings support the utility of body composition assessment in epidemiological studies of skeletal aging.
• Skeletal aging traits, particularly hand osteoarthritis, are linked to somatotype and adiposity.