Dose-response relationship between visceral fat index and untreated hypertension in Chinese rural population: the RuralDiab study

Abstract The study aimed to explore the association of visceral fat index (VFI) with untreated hypertension in different genders, and evaluate the practicability of VFI as a marker for discriminating untreated hypertension in Chinese rural population. A total of 12536 eligible participants aged 35 years and over were derived from the RuralDiab study in China. VFI was assessed with bioelectrical impendence methods, and divided into sex-specific quartiles. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline regression were performed. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was applied to analyze the discriminating performance of VFI. Meanwhile, a meta-analysis was conducted to validate the result of this study. Compared with the lowest VFI quartile, the adjusted odds ratios( ORs ) and 95% confidence interval(95% CI ) in the highest VFI quartile were 3.68(2.91-4.66) in male and 2.63(2.12-3.25) in female ( P trend P linearity CI ) were 0.64(0.63-0.66) in male and 0.61(0.60-0.62) in female. Meta-analysis results displayed the pooled ORs (95% CI ) were 2.65(1.79-3.93) in male and 2.27(1.74-2.95) in female.VFI was significantly positively correlated with the risk of untreated hypertension, and dose-response relationships were observed in both genders in Chinese rural population. However, VFI as a marker had limited potential for discriminating untreated hypertension.