Thompson MJW, et al. - Researchers tried to find out whether and how constitutive melanin density is correlated with prevalent and short-term, but not long-term, incident fracture risk in older caucasian adults. This study examined a total of 1,072 community-dwelling adults aged 50–80 years who had constitutive melanin density. After the baseline assessment, individuals were followed up at 2.5 (n = 879), 5 (n = 767), and 10 (n = 571) years, respectively. Via questionnaire, prevalence and number of symptomatic fractures were tested. Among older Caucasian adults, constitutive melanin density was correlated with prevalent and short-term, but not long-term, incident fracture risk. The results of this study reveal that melanin density either acts as a surrogate marker for an unmeasured fracture risk factor or the association between melanin density and fracture changes with time.