Association between visceral adiposity index and incident stroke: Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

• Published in: Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases, 2022-05, Vol.32 (5), p.1202-1209
• Main Authors: Cui, Cancan, He, Chengyan, Sun, Qichao, Xu, Zhonghang, Li, Qianyu, Yue, Siqi, Liu, Jinhua, Wang, Liqiang, Wang, Hai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adiposity; Aged; Body Mass Index; China - epidemiology; Cohort study; Female; Humans; Intra-Abdominal Fat; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Obesity, Abdominal - diagnosis; Obesity, Abdominal - epidemiology; Primary prevention; Retirement; Retrospective Studies; Risk factor; Risk Factors; Stroke; Stroke - diagnosis; Stroke - epidemiology; Visceral adiposity index
• ISSN: 0939-4753; 1590-3729
• DOI: 10.1016/j.numecd.2022.01.031

Visceral adiposity index (VAI), an indicator of visceral fat, is associated with metabolic health and arterial stiffness. However, studies correlating VAI and stroke are limited. This study aimed to explore the association between VAI and incident stroke in the Chinese population. We retrospectively analysed the data of 9127 individuals enrolled in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The first survey of the study was conducted during 2011–2012 and the individuals were followed up until Survey 4 (2017–2018). Multivariable-adjusted Cox regression models were used to evaluate the association between VAI and stroke. The mean age of the study population was 59.3 ± 9.5 years and 4938 (54.1%) participants were women. During the median follow-up of 5.2 [1.0–7.0] years, 833 (9.1%) participants developed stroke, and the cumulative incidence of stroke increased with increasing quartiles of VAI (8.6%, 8.7%, 9.2%, and 10.0%). Compared to those in the first quartile of VAI, individuals in the fourth quartile had an increased risk of stroke (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.15–1.75). The results were stable in several sensitivity analyses. Our findings suggest a positive association between VAI and incident stroke in the Chinese population. •The 7-year cumulative incidence of stroke was above 9.0% in middle-aged and older Chinese adults.•Visceral adiposity index is positively associated with stroke incidence.•Monitoring visceral adiposity index (VAI) offers an alternative to identify individuals at risk of stroke.