Using the Atherogenic Index of Plasma to Estimate the Prevalence of Ischemic Stroke within a General Population in a Rural Area of China

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and ischemic stroke. DESIGN: We collected a range of data from 11,495 residents (aged ≥35 years; 54.28% female) residing in rural areas of northeast China between January and August 2013, including fasting lipid profile and anthropometric parameters. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the correlation between AIP and ischemic stroke. Category-free analysis was used to determine whether AIP enhanced our capacity to estimate ischemic stroke. RESULTS: Irrespective of gender, AIP was independently associated with the occurrence of ischemic stroke. The prevalence of ischemic stroke increased significantly from the lowest quartile to the highest quartile (females: 10.5%-48.7%, P < 0.001; males: 22.0%-36.5%, P = 0.08). After adjusting for age, gender, income, education, smoking, drinking, exercise, hypertension, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, atrial fibrillation, and a family history of stroke, we found that for every 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in AIP, there was a 34.8% and 20.9% increase in the prevalence of stroke for females and males, respectively. Curve fitting was also used to evaluate the linear relationship between AIP and the occurrence of ischemic stroke. Category-free analysis indicated that AIP significantly enhanced our ability to estimate ischemic stroke in both females (NRI (95% confidence interval (CI)): 0.188 (0.105-0.270)) and males (NRI (95% CI): 0.175 (0.017-0.333)). CONCLUSION: Analyses detected a significant and positive linear relationship between AIP and the prevalence of ischemic stroke. This relationship was independent of a range of conventional risk factors.