Visceral adiposity index, hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype and chronic kidney disease in a southern Chinese population: a cross-sectional study

To explore the relationships between visceral adiposity index (VAI), hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype (HW phenotype) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Zhuhai City June–October 2012. A total of 2142 participants were recruited. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the associations between VAI, HW phenotype and CKD.

After adjustment for age, VAI was significantly associated with CKD (OR 2.16, 95 % CI 1.25–3.74, P = 0.006) in women. Further adjusted for potential confounders, the association was still significant in women (OR 2.07, 95 % CI 1.17–3.64, P = 0.01). However, the association was abolished when adding diabetes and hypertension to the model (OR 1.68, 95 % CI 0.92–3.06, P = 0.09). The age-adjusted OR (95 % CI, P) of CKD associated with HW phenotype was 2.21 (1.29–3.76, 0.004) and 2.54 (1.53–4.22, <0.001) for men and women, respectively. Further adjusted for potential confounders, the associations were still significant in both subgroups. The OR for CKD was 2.41 (95 % CI 1.42–4.12, P = 0.001) and 2.32 (95 % CI 1.31–4.11, P = 0.004) for women and men, respectively. When further adjusted for diabetes and hypertension, the association of HW phenotype and CKD was significant (OR 1.88, 95 % CI 1.05–3.36, P = 0.033) in women. However, the model is abolished in men (OR 1.50, 95 % CI 0.81–2.78, P = 0.19).

Our results suggest that both VAI and the HW phenotype might be useful clinical indicators of CKD in China for females but not for males. The HW phenotype associated more strongly with CKD, compared with VAI.