Association between Visceral Adiposity Index and hypertension among Chinese Adults: a nationwide cross-sectional study in the China Health and Nutrition Survey.

BACKGROUND

Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) is an indicator of visceral adipose function. It showed an intense association with cardiometabolic risks, but it is unclear whether VAI is associated with hypertension.

OBJECTIVE

We aim to determine the association of VAI with hypertension in Chinese adults.

METHODS

We carried out a cross-sectional analysis of 5421 Chinese adults based on data which was from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) 2009. Multivariable logistic regression and linear regression were performed to confirm the association.

RESULTS

In multivariable logistic regression analysis, there was a dose-response association between VAI and the risk of incident hypertension (P for trend <0.01). The sex and age-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) [95% confidence interval (CI)] for the development of hypertension were 1.06 (0.90-1.26) in the second, 1.09 (0.92-1.29) in the third, and 1.28 (1.08-1.52) in the fourth VAI quartile, compared to the first quartile. The multivariable linear regression analysis indicated that VAI was positive association with systolic blood pressure (β = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.13-0.62; P = 0.0028) and diastolic blood pressure (β = 0.26; 95% CI, 0.12-0.40; P = 0.0004). The subgroup analysis showed that VAI had more positive association with hypertension in participants with an apolipoprotein A1 of ≥1.2 g/L (P = 0.0115) or a hemoglobin A1c of ≥6.5% (P = 0.0369).

CONCLUSIONS

VAI was positively associated with hypertension among the Chinese adult population, and it may assume an indicator of hypertension risk for the Chinese population.