Green space, genetic susceptibility, and risk of osteoporosis:a cohort study from the UK Biobank

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of residential exposure to green space on the incident osteoporosis and further explore the modification effect of genetic susceptibility.

Methods: Participants from the UK Biobank were followed from 2006 to 2010 (baseline) to December 31st, 2022. Using land use coverage, we evaluated exposure to residential surrounding green space, natural environment, and domestic gardens. We used the Cox regression to examine the association between the residential environment and incident osteoporosis. The interactive effects between polygenic risk score (PRS) of osteoporosis and residential environments on incident osteoporosis were investigated.

Results: This study included 292,662 participants. Over a median follow-up period of 13.65 years, we documented 9177 incidents of osteoporosis. Per interquartile (IQR) increase in greenness and natural environment at a 300 m buffer was associated with a 4% lower risk of incident osteoporosis [HR = 0.96 (95% CI: 0.93, 0.99)] and [HR = 0.96 (95% CI: 0.93, 0.98)], respectively. We did not identify any interactive effects between genetic risk and residential environment on incident osteoporosis.

Conclusions: This study found that public greenness and natural environments could reduce the risk of incident osteoporosis regardless of genetic predisposition. Developing sustainable and publicly accessible natural environments might benefit populations' bone health.

Keywords: Cohort study; Gene-environment interaction; Genetic susceptibility; Green space; Natural environment; Osteoporosis.