Table 2.

Multivariate linear regression analysis of factors independently associated with bone mineral density of the hip or spine.

Characteristic	Femoral neck (β-coefficient)^a	P-value	Lumbar spine (β-coefficient)^a	P-value
Age (per year)	−0.004	0.002	—	—
Non-black race	−0.072	< 0.0001	−0.073	< 0.0001
Weight (per kg)^b	0.003	< 0.0001	0.003	< 0.0001
HIV-infection	−0.012	0.05	−0.04	0.02
Low testosterone	−0.03	0.01	−0.05	0.002
Ever use of prednisone	—	—	−0.04	0.09
Recent (past 5 years) heroin use	—	—	−1.12	0.26
Current methadone maintenance treatment	—	—	−2.53	0.012

β-coefficients less than zero indicate an inverse association between the characteristic and bone mineral density. Because variables were selected for inclusion in each model only if the univariate association was < 0.2, some variables are excluded from each model.

Substitution of body mass index (kg/m²) for weight (kg) did not significantly alter the results of either model, nor alter the β-coefficients or P-values of the other variables in either model.