Correlation of muscle mass and bone mineral density in the NHANES US general population, 2017–2018

The appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI) is commonly used to evaluate human skeletal muscle mass. Muscle, an adjacent tissue of bone, is closely related to bone growth and development. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between the ASMI and lumbar bone mineral density (BMD) to identify potential risk factors for osteoporosis. We analyzed the data collected by the NHANES from 2017 to 2018, and finally included 948 participants aged 40 to 59 years. We evaluated the correlation between the ASMI and lumbar spine BMD using univariate and multiple linear regression models. The ASMI was calculated from height and appendicular skeletal muscle mass obtained by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Lumbar spine BMD was obtained by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and used as an observation in our study. In all the models, ASMI was significantly associated with lumbar spine BMD (model 1: β = 0.013, P < .001; model 2: β = 0.013, P < .001). In the subgroup analysis stratified by sex, this positive correlation was present in both sexes (male: β = 0.023, P < .001, β = 0.022, < 0.001; female: β = 0.030, P < .001, β = 0.031, P < .001). This study showed that the ASMI was positively associated with lumbar BMD, and that this correlation is present in both men and women.