Xu Weilong, Shi Ruizhen, Zhu Youzhuang, Feng Wei
Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266000, Shandong Province, China.
Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266000, Shandong Province, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 Mar 17;15(1):9135. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-93041-1.
The Visceral Obesity Index (VAI) is utilized as a metric employed to assess the distribution of abdominal adipose tissue as well as the functional status of adipose tissue. Nevertheless, the interplay between VAI and persistent pain has yet to be investigated. This cross-sectional analysis investigated the relationship between VAI and persistent pain among 1357 American adults from NHANES data. A logarithmic transformation of VAI was performed to adjust for skewness. Following the adjustment for relevant variables, logistic regression analysis showed a noteworthy association between VAI and chronic pain, suggesting that higher VAI values may be linked to an increased prevalence of persistent pain. Curve fitting analysis revealed a nonlinear correlation, with a breakpoint at a VAI value of 0.18. For VAI values below this threshold, each unit increase was notably correlated with an elevated prevalence of persistent pain, while increases in VAI beyond this threshold did not show a significant impact on chronic pain prevalence. Subgroup analyses indicated that the VAI may serve as a relatively independent risk factor for persistent pain. These findings highlight the possibility of incorporating abdominal adipose modification into pain management approaches and emphasize the critical importance of monitoring visceral fat accumulation to better identify patients more susceptible to chronic pain.
内脏肥胖指数（VAI）被用作评估腹部脂肪组织分布以及脂肪组织功能状态的指标。然而，VAI与持续性疼痛之间的相互作用尚未得到研究。这项横断面分析利用美国国家健康与营养检查调查（NHANES）的数据，研究了1357名美国成年人中VAI与持续性疼痛之间的关系。对VAI进行对数转换以调整偏态。在对相关变量进行调整后，逻辑回归分析显示VAI与慢性疼痛之间存在显著关联，这表明较高的VAI值可能与持续性疼痛患病率增加有关。曲线拟合分析显示存在非线性相关性，VAI值为0.18时出现转折点。对于低于该阈值的VAI值，每增加一个单位，与持续性疼痛患病率升高显著相关，而超过该阈值的VAI增加对慢性疼痛患病率没有显著影响。亚组分析表明，VAI可能是持续性疼痛的一个相对独立的危险因素。这些发现凸显了将腹部脂肪改善纳入疼痛管理方法的可能性，并强调了监测内脏脂肪堆积对于更好地识别更易患慢性疼痛患者的至关重要性。
