Association between organ damage and visceral adiposity index in community-dwelling elderly Chinese population: the Northern Shanghai Study

Background The visceral adiposity index (VAI) is a newly developing indicator about visceral fat function and insulin resistance. This research aims to assess the association between organ damage and VAI in the community-dwelling elderly Chinese population. Methods In total, 3363 elderly participants were recruited between June 2014 and August 2019. VAI was used to measure visceral adipose accumulation, and organ damage was measured with standardized methods, including arterial stiffness, lower extremity atherosclerosis, carotid hypertrophy, left ventricular hypertrophy, micro-albuminuria, and chronic kidney disease. Results According to multivariable linear regression analysis, VAI was related to carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV; β = 0.047, P = 0.024), urine albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR; β = 3.893, P = 0.008), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; β = − 0.526, P = 0.003) and log e (ankle-to-brachial index) (ABI; β = -0.003, P = 0.024). Using multivariable stepwise logistic regression model, higher VAI was found to be significantly related to cf-PWV > 10 m/s (OR 1.44, [95% CI 1.17–1.78]; P for trend < 0.001), and chronic kidney disease (CKD; OR 1.54, [95% CI 1.09–2.20]; P for trend = 0.015). Conclusions Since higher VAI is related to increased risk of arterial stiffness and CKD, it may serve as a useful index for the assessment of arteriosclerosis and CKD in elderly population. Trial registration NSS, NCT02368938.