[Association of Chinese visceral adiposity index with arterial stiffness progression]

Objective: To investigate the association of Chinese visceral adiposity index (CVAI) with arterial stiffness progression. Methods: This study was a prospective cohort study, which included participants who completed at least 1 measurement of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) between 2010 and 2016, with complete physical examination data during the same period, and completed baPWV measurement during follow-up. The time of completing the first baPWV measurement was defined as the baseline. All participants were divided into 4 groups according to quartiles of baseline CVAI (<60.84, 60.84-89.67, 89.68-117.45,≥117.46). The baPWV progression was calculated (baPWV progression=(baPWV_follow-up-baPWV_baseline)/duration of follow-up). We assessed the association of CVAI groups with baPWV progression using multivariate linear regression models. Results: A total of 17 261 participants were included. Of these, the age was (47.6±11.6) years, and 11 285 (65.38%) were males. The results of multivariate linear regression models showed that compared with the CVAI<60.84 group, the baPWV at baseline increased by 39.62 cm/s (95%CI 28.57-50.67, P<0.01) in the 60.84-89.67 group, 76.37 cm/s (95%CI 64.71-88.04, P<0.01) in the 89.68-117.45 group, and 92.83 cm/s (95%CI 80.53-105.14, P<0.01) in the≥117.46 group. The median follow-up time was 2.49 years. Compared with the CVAI<60.84 group, annual change of baPWV progression increased by 17.17 cm/s (95%CI 10.36-23.97, P<0.01) in the 60.84-89.67 group, 24.59 cm/s (95%CI 17.38-31.80, P<0.01) in the 89.68-117.45 group, and 25.75 cm/s (95%CI 18.13-33.36, P<0.01) in the ≥117.46 group. Conclusion: Higher CVAI is closely associated with the progression of arterial stiffness, and the arterial stiffness progression accelerates with increased CVAI.