Association Between Chinese Visceral Adiposity Index and Risk of Incident Hypertension Among Older Adults: A...

The Chinese visceral adiposity index (CVAI), a favorable surrogate index for assessing visceral fat distribution and function, has been proven to be associated with various conditions, including diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and strokes. Nevertheless, evidence on the association of CVAI with the risk of incident hypertension among older adults is limited.

This study aimed to explore the association between CVAI and the risk of incident hypertension among older adults.

Data were collected from the annual health examination dataset in Xinzheng, Henan Province from 2018 to 2023. A total of 10,353 participants aged ≥ 60 years were included. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association between CVAI and the risk of incident hypertension by using hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to confirm the association's robustness. Additionally, the restricted cubic spline (RCS) was used to fit the dose-response association between CVAI and the risk of incident hypertension.

During a median of 2.72 years of follow-up, hypertension developed in 6990 participants. In the fully-adjusted model, compared with participants in the tertile 1 of CVAI, the tertile 3 (HR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.19-1.34) of CVAI was associated with an increased risk of incident hypertension and per standard deviation (SD) increase was associated with a 12% (HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.09-1.15) increased risk of incident hypertension. Similar significant associations were observed in subgroup and sensitivity analyses. Additionally, the RCS analysis showed a significant dose-response association of CVAI with the risk of incident hypertension (P overall < 0.001 and P nonlinear = 0.238).

These results suggested a positive association between CVAI and the risk of incident hypertension among older adults.