| Summary: | Introduction
Major osteoporotic fractures (MOF) are associated with significant morbidity and healthcare system burden.
Objectives and Approach
We aimed to determine whether sibling fracture history is associated with MOF risk amongst individuals from a population-based cohort using objectively-ascertained measures of fracture history. This retrospective cohort study used administrative databases from the province of Manitoba, Canada, which has a universal healthcare system. The cohort included individuals aged 40 years and older between 1997 and 2015 with linkage to at least one sibling. The exposure was MOF diagnosis occurring at age 40 years or older in a randomly selected sibling. The outcome was incident clinically-diagnosed MOF (hip, wrist, humerus or spine) identified in hospital and physician records using established case definitions. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to test the association of sibling fracture history with the risk of MOF in individuals after adjustment for known fracture risk factors.
Results
The cohort included 217,519 individuals; 92% were linked to full siblings (i.e., same mother/father) and 49% were females. During a median follow-up of 11 years (IQR 5 -15), 7274 (3.3%) incident MOF cases were identified. Sibling MOF history was associated with increased risk of MOF (HR 1.71, 95% CI 1.48–1.97). The risk was elevated in both men (HR 1.63, 95% CI 1.29-2.06) and women (HR 1.78, 95% CI 1.48-2.13) but was higher among sisters (HR 2.08, 95% CI 1.65-2.61) compared to brothers (HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.20-2.32). In a secondary analysis of sibling fracture site, the highest risk was observed with diagnosis of wrist followed by spine fractures (HR 1.86, 95% CI 1.57-2.21 and HR 1.46, 95% CI 1.08-1.98, respectively).
Conclusion
Sibling fracture history is associated with increased MOF risk in individuals and should be considered as a candidate risk factor for improving fracture risk prediction.
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