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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Reproduction
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1504878
This article is part of the Research Topic Lifestyle and Environmental Factors and Human Fertility View all 8 articles

Association between the body roundness index and female infertility: a cross-sectional study from NHANES

Provisionally accepted
Ming Liu Ming Liu Yi-Fang Zhang Yi-Fang Zhang Jian Liu Jian Liu *
  • Oncology - Gynecology, The first affiliated hospital of Bengbu medical university, Bengbu, Anhui Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background:Infertility is strongly associated with obesity. The body roundness index (BRI) is a more accurate assessment of visceral fat content than the body mass index (BMI). However, current evidence on the association between visceral fat accumulation and infertility remains insufficient and controversial. Therefore, we utilized the 2017-2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database to explore the correlation between BRI and infertility.Methods:We used multiple logistic regression, smoothed curve fitting, subgroup analyses, and interaction tests to investigate the potential association between BRI and infertility. Additionally, we assessed the ability of BRI and BMI to predict infertility risk using receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis and calculate the area under the curve (AUC),sensitivity, and specificity.Results:In the study, 1463 women aged 20 to 45 participated, and 172 of them were found to be infertile. After adjusting for all factors except body measurements, the findings indicated that for each one-unit increase in BRI, there was a 19% increase in the risk of infertility (OR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.05, 1.34). The analysis also revealed a positive nonlinear relationship between BRI and infertility. Furthermore, based on the ROC curves, it was observed that BRI was a more reliable predictor of infertility risk compared to BMI (BRI AUC = 0.5773, BMI AUC = 0.5681).This study demonstrated a positive association between higher BRI values and infertility among adult women in the United States and showed a stronger association than BMI.

    Keywords: NHANES1, infertility2, body roundness index(BRI)3, Obesity4, cross-sectional studies5

    Received: 01 Oct 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Zhang and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jian Liu, Oncology - Gynecology, The first affiliated hospital of Bengbu medical university, Bengbu, Anhui Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.