Table 4. Comparisons of covariate-adjusted mean of bone mineral density by different aMed models (N = 2371).

	Whole body	Lumbar spine	Total hip	Femur neck	Trochanter	Intertrochanter	Ward’s triangle
BMD, g/cm2a
aMed score, Model I
Quintiles 1a	1.081 ± 0.005	0.864 ± 0.006	0.821 ± 0.005	0.677 ± 0.005	0.610 ± 0.004	0.983 ± 0.006	0.495 ± 0.006
Quintiles 5 (highest) Diff.b	0.021 ± 0.005	0.026 ± 0.006	0.023 ± 0.005	0.024 ± 0.005	0.016 ± 0.004	0.028 ± 0.006	0.014 ± 0.006
%Diff. Ic	1.94*	3.01*	2.80**	2.81*	2.62**	2.85**	2.83
aMed score, Model II
Quintiles 1a	1.083 ± 0.004	0.870 ± 0.006	0.822 ± 0.004	0.680 ± 0.004	0.611 ± 0.003	0.985 ± 0.005	0.497 ± 0.004
Quintiles 5 (highest) Diff.b	0.018 ± 0.004	0.021 ± 0.005	0.022 ± 0.004	0.018±0.004	0.016 ± 0.003	0.026 ± 0.004	0.017 ± 0.004
%Diff. IIc	1.66**	2.41**	2.67**	2.65**	2.62**	2.64**	3.42
aMed score, Model III
Quintiles 1a	1.082 ± 0.004	0.866 ± 0.005	0.822 ± 0.004	0.677 ± 0.004	0.610 ± 0.003	0.984 ± 0.005	0.495 ± 0.005
Quintiles 5 (highest) Diff.b	0.023 ± 0.004	0.025±0.005	0.024 ± 0.004	0.022 ± 0.004	0.017 ± 0.003	0.029 ± 0.003	0.018 ± 0.003
%Diff. IIIc	2.13***	2.89**	2.92***	3.25***	2.79**	2.95**	3.64
aMed score, Model IV
Quintiles 1a	1.081 ± 0.004	0.866 ± 0.005	0.820 ± 0.004	0.677 ± 0.004	0.610 ± 0.003	0.981 ± 0.005	0.494 ± 0.005
Quintiles 5 (highest) Diff.b	0.020 ± 0.004	0.025 ± 0.006	0.024 ± 0.004	0.021 ± 0.004	0.015 ± 0.003	0.031 ± 0.005	0.016 ± 0.005
%Diff. IVc	1.85**	2.89**	2.93***	3.10**	2.46*	3.16***	3.24
aMed score, Model V
Quintiles 1a	1.082 ± 0.004	0.869±0.005	0.821 ± 0.004	0.680 ± 0.004	0.611 ± 0.003	0.982 ± 0.005	0.495 ± 0.005
Quintiles 5 (highest) Diff.b	0.022 ± 0.004	0.020 ± 0.006	0.020 ± 0.004	0.017 ± 0.004	0.013 ± 0.004	0.026 ± 0.005	0.015 ± 0.005
%Diff. Vc	2.03**	2.30	2.44**	2.50*	2.13	2.65**	3.03
aMed score, Model VI
Quintiles 1a	1.080±0.005	0.864 ± 0.006	0.821 ± 0.005	0.677 ± 0.005	0.610 ± 0.004	0.983 ± 0.006	0.495 ± 0.005
Quintiles 5 (highest) Diff.b	0.022 ± 0.004	0.027 ± 0.006	0.023 ± 0.004	0.019 ± 0.004	0.017 ± 0.004	0.028 ± 0.005	0.014±0.005
%Diff. VIc	2.03**	3.11*	2.80**	2.79*	2.78*	2.85**	2.83
aMed score, Model VII
Quintiles 1a	1.076 ± 0.007	0.857 ± 0.009	0.820 ± 0.007	0.680 ± 0.006	0.610 ± 0.006	0.980 ± 0.008	0.495 ± 0.008
Quintiles 5 (highest) Diff.b	0.046±0.007	0.056 ± 0.009	0.039 ± 0.007	0.037 ± 0.006	0.027 ± 0.006	0.051 ± 0.008	0.035 ± 0.008
%Diff. VIIc	4.28***	6.53***	4.76***	5.44***	4.43**	5.20***	7.07*
%Diff. incrementd	121	117	70.0	93.6	69.1	82.5	150

All analyses were adjusted for age, body mass index, marital status, education status, household income, smoking status, calcium supplement use, multivitamin use, physical activity, and daily energy intake. In Model I, aMed scores were constructed by the original 9 components (whole grain, vegetables excluded potato, fruits include juices, legumes, nuts, fish, monounsaturated to saturated fat ratio, red and processed meat, and moderate alcohol consume). Vegetable, legumes, fish, monounsaturated to saturated ratio, moderate alcohol consume was each excluded from Model I in Model II, III, IV, V, VI, respectively, and excluded together in the Model VII. Score ranges from 0–9, 0–8, 0–8, 0–8, 0–8, 0–8, and 0–4, respectively in Model I–VII.

^aMean ± SE.

^bMean difference (Q5–Q1) ± SE.

^c%Diff.: percentage difference = (Q5-Q1)/Q1 × 100%.

^d%Diff. increment = ([%Diff.VII–%Diff.I])/%Diff.I) × 100%. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, compared with Q1.