AUTHOR=Ren Yun , Li Weishi , Chen Zhongqiang , Liu Jue , Fan Dongwei 

TITLE=Proximity to major roads and the incidence of osteoporotic fractures in elderly women: The BONE study in Beijing

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1036534

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.1036534

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Backgroud: There is growing evidence that living near major roads (pollution of urban streets) can have adverse effects on bone health. However, little is known about its relationship to fractures caused by osteoporosis.
Objective: This study was designed to investigate the relationship between residents living near major roads and the incidence of osteoporotic fractures.
Methods: We established 529 retrospective cohort based on community populations in older women aged 65-91 and the participants lived in Beijing from September 27, 2007 to September 26, 2017. We determined the distance between the residential sites of the elderly women and the main roads. Osteoporotic fracture diagnosis is based on medical history and imaging examination (DXA and X-rays). We used the Cox proportional hazards model to assess the association between traffic proximity and osteoporotic fractures and adjusted for individual and background factors (such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and household income, etc).
Results：Between 2007 and 2017, we identified 96 osteoporotic fractures. For people living less than 50 m from the main road, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for osteoporotic fractures is 2.509 (95% CI 1.345 – 4.680), 1.830 (95% CI 1.029 – 3.255) means living at a distance of 50–300 m from the road versus further than 300 m.
Conclusion: In this community-based cohort, living near heavy traffic is associated with a higher incidence of osteoporotic fractures.