The impact of bone mineral density on the risk of falling: evidence from genetic correlation and Mendelian randomization analysis

Background Falls are the most common consequence of low bone mineral density (BMD). However, due to limitations inherent in observational studies, the causal relationship between the two remains unestablished. Methods This study utilized Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis to explore the causal relationship between BMD and the risk of falling, incorporating linkage disequilibrium score (LDSC) regression for genetic correlation assessment. The primary method was inverse-variance weighted (IVW), supplemented with sensitivity analyses and the causal analysis using summary effect estimates (CAUSE) to address heterogeneity and pleiotropy biases. Results LDSC analysis indicated significant genetic correlations between BMD at various sites and falling risk (r g range: −0.82 to 0.76, all P