Purpose: This study aims to investigate the associations of the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) with bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporosis in adult females from a nationally representative sample.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed among 4,092 females aged ≥20 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2010. Linear and logistic regressions were applied to explore the relationships of SII with BMD and the risk of osteoporosis, respectively.
Results: Linear regression analyses found that a doubling of SII levels was significantly correlated with a 1.39% [95% % confidence interval (CI): 0.57%, 2.20%] decrease in total femur BMD, a 1.16% (95% CI: 0.31%, 2.00%) decrease in femur neck BMD, a 1.73% (95% CI: 0.78%, 2.66%) decrease in trochanter BMD and a 1.35% (95% CI: 0.50%, 2.20%) decrease in intertrochanteric BMD among postmenopausal women, after adjusting for covariates. Logistic regression analyses showed that compared with postmenopausal women in the lowest SII quartile, those in the highest quartile had higher risks of osteoporosis in the total femur [odds ratio (OR) =1.70, 95% CI: 1.04, 2.76], trochanter (OR=1.86, 95% CI: 1.07, 3.38), intertrochanter (OR=2.01, 95% CI: 1.05, 4.04) as well as overall osteoporosis (OR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.04, 2.37). In contrast, there was no significant association between SII and BMD in premenopausal women.
Conclusions: SII levels were negatively associated with BMD levels in postmenopausal women but not in premenopausal women. Elevated SII levels could be a potential risk factor for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.