Association between visceral adiposity index and chronic kidney disease: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

The association between visceral adiposity index (VAI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains debatable. We aimed to prospectively investigate the relationship between VAI and CKD.A total of 8808 participants from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were included. Males and females were divided into four groups according to gender-specific quartiles of VAI scores. CKD was based on self-reported physicians' diagnosis or personal eGFR level. A logistic regression model was established to analyze the correlation between VAI and CKD. A meta-analysis was conducted to incorporate the results of the current study and previous studies on the association of VAI with CKD. During 7 years of follow-up, a total of 826 participants (9.38%) experienced CKD. In multivariable-adjusted analyses, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for the highest versus lowest quartile of VAI was 1.33 (1.03-1.77) for male, and 1.10 (0.81-1.48) for female, respectively. The meta-analysis found the significant associations between VAI and CKD in total, male and female participants (pooled relative risk for highest vs lowest VAI quartile were 2.24(1.70-2.95), 2.36(1.54-3.61) and 2.57 (1.57-4.22), respectively).Higher VAI score was associated with increased risk of CKD, independently of established risk factors. The VAI may be a predictor of incident CKD, but only among male participants based on present study.