Age-related changes in bone-strength-associated geometry indices in naive human population

The aim of the present study was to evaluate age- and sex-related changes in the geometry parameters (metacarpal cortical index (MCI) and Breaking Bending Resistance Index [BBRI]) of long hand bones in a large Chuvashian cohort using cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs. The data were gathered in 1994 (557 individuals) and 2002 (513 individuals). The latter sample included 260 individuals who were studied only during the second expedition, and 253 individuals who were previously investigated in 1994. Statistical analyses included a maximum likelihood-based model-fitting technique and a t-test comparison. Our study describes age-related MCI and BBRI changes in both sexes from the age of 18 years to 84 years. At any age, the BBRI values were higher in males than in females, but MCI was greater in females than in males before age 50 and lower after that age. The study provides initial evidence of a secular trend in MCI and BBRI. In male hand bones, the cortex became relatively thicker and it better resisted bending and breaking in comparison to individuals born at the beginning of the 20th century. In females, the trend toward higher MCI values can be observed only in those born between 1936 and 1966 and the trend toward higher BBRI values stopped in 1950.