Elevated visceral adiposity index is associated with increased stroke prevalence and earlier age at first stroke onset: Based on a national cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the VAI (visceral adiposity index) and stroke prevalence and age at stroke in US adults. METHODS: We examined the association between VAI and stroke prevalence and age at stroke using logistic regression, subgroup analysis, and dose-response curves using participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database from 2007-2018. RESULTS: This study ultimately included 29,337 participants aged >20 years, of whom 1022 self-reported a history of stroke, and after adjusting for all confounders, each unit increase in corrected VAI was associated with a 12% increase in the prevalence of stroke (OR= 1.12, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.24) along with an earlier age at stroke 1.64 years (β= -1.64, 95% CI: -2.84, -0.45), stratified analysis showed that the prevalence of stroke was 20% higher in the female group (OR= 1.20, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.39), black group (OR= 1.22, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.48), age ≤60 years group (OR= 1.25, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.48), hypertensive group (OR=1.15, 95% CI:1.01, 1.31), and diabetic group (OR=1.23, 95% CI:1.02, 1.48) VAI increase was positively correlated with stroke prevalence increase. The dose-response curves showed a positive linear correlation between increased VAI and stroke prevalence, while a negative linear correlation was observed between increased VAI and age at stroke. CONCLUSION: Although a causal relationship cannot be proven, higher VAI was positively associated with stroke prevalence and can lead to earlier stroke onset.