Hyperglycaemia, diabetes and risk of fragility fractures: observational and Mendelian randomisation studies

Fragility fractures may be a complication of diabetes, partly caused by chronic hyperglycaemia. We hypothesised that: (1) individuals with hyperglycaemia and diabetes have increased risk of fragility fracture; (2) hyperglycaemia is causally associated with increased risk of fragility fracture; and (3) diabetes and fragility fracture jointly associate with the highest risk of all-cause mortality.

In total, 117,054 individuals from the Copenhagen City Heart Study and the Copenhagen General Population Study (the Copenhagen studies) and 390,374 individuals from UK Biobank were included for observational and one-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR) analyses. Fragility fractures were defined as fractures at the hip, spine and arm (humerus/wrist), collected from national health registries. Summary data for fasting glucose and HbA_1c concentrations from 196,743 individuals in the Meta-Analyses of Glucose and Insulin-related traits Consortium (MAGIC) were combined with data on fragility fractures from the Copenhagen studies in two-sample MR analyses.

Higher fasting and non-fasting glucose and HbA_1c concentrations were associated with higher risk of any fragility fracture (p<0.001). Individuals with vs without diabetes had HRs for fragility fracture of 1.50 (95% CI 1.19, 1.88) in type 1 diabetes and 1.22 (1.13, 1.32) in type 2 diabetes. One-sample MR supported a causal association between high non-fasting glucose concentrations and increased risk of arm fracture in the Copenhagen studies and UK Biobank combined (RR 1.41 [1.11, 1.79], p=0.004), with similar results for fasting glucose and HbA_1c in two-sample MR analyses (ORs 1.50 [1.03, 2.18], p=0.03; and 2.79 [1.12, 6.93], p=0.03, respectively). The corresponding MR estimates for any fragility fracture were 1.18 (1.00, 1.41), p=0.06; 1.36 (0.89, 2.09), p=0.15; and 2.47 (0.95, 6.43), p=0.06, respectively. At age 80 years, cumulative death was 27% in individuals with fragility fracture only, 54% in those with diabetes only, 67% in individuals with both conditions and 17% in those with neither.

Hyperglycaemia and diabetes are risk factors for fragility fracture and one- and two-sample MR analyses supported a causal effect of hyperglycaemia on arm fractures. Diabetes and previous fragility fracture jointly conferred the highest risk of death in the general population.