Triglyceride glucose index was linearly associated with abdominal aortic calcification based on NHANES 2013–2014

PURPOSE: To study the relationship between the TyG index and the risk of AAC. METHODS: We enrolled 1,486 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The TyG index was calculated in the log-transformed of triglycerides multipled by glucose, and the presence of AAC was diagnosed as AAC score above than 0. RESULTS: Our suggested found that TyG level was positively correlated with the presence of AAC and log-transformed AAC score. After adjusted for other variables, comparing with the lowest quartile of TyG index, the highest quartile of TyG level was significantly associated with the presence of AAC (OR 2.12, 95%CI 1.05–4.35, p = 0.038) and severe AAC (OR 2.12, 95%CI 1.05–4.35, p = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: TyG index was significantly associated with the risk of AAC and severe AAC, which could be a marker in clinical practice. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12902-022-01226-w.