Association Between Four Anthropometric Indexes and Metabolic Syndrome in US Adults

To study the association between anthropometric indexes [lipid accumulation products (LAP), visceral obesity index (VAI), triglyceride and glucose index (TyG) and waist triglyceride index (WTI)] and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a representative sample of American adult population surveyed by National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Cross-sectional data from the NHANES were used. Participants were adults aged 18-80 y from 1996-2006. MetS were defined by the updated National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III criteria (NCEP-ATP III) for Americans. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn and the areas under the curve (AUC) were used to assess the ability of these indexes in screening MetS. Statistical differences among the AUC values of these indexes were compared. The association between the anthropometric indexes and MetS was investigated using weighted multivariable-adjusted logistic regression.

560 (35.2%) males and 529 (26.4%) females were diagnosed with MetS. LAP was the strongest predictor of MetS for men (AUC=0.87, 95% CI 0.85-0.89), and also was the strongest for women [AUC=0.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.83-0.86], according to the ROC curve analysis. In men, differences in AUC values between LAP and other anthropometric indicators were also significant (all P<0.001). In women, there was a significant difference in AUC values between LAP and WTI (P<0.001), but differences in AUC values between LAP and TyG, VAI were not significant.

The present study indicated that LAP is a better predictor in the clinical setting for identifying individuals with MetS in the American adult population.