Association between visceral adipose tissue mass and osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study of the NHANES

Xiuming Wu ¹ Tianpei Chen ¹ Chunhui Huang ¹ Yuying Chen ^2*

• ¹ Department of Spinal Surgery, Affiliated Longyan First Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Longyan, China
• ² Department of Pharmacy, Affiliated Longyan First Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Longyan, China

Visceral adipose tissue mass (VATM) refers to the mass of fat tissue concentrated around the internal organs. As a novel metabolic health indicator, it can be used to assess the body's metabolic level. The relationship between osteoarthritis (OA) and VATM remains unclear. This study seeks to investigate the correlation between VATM and OA in American adults.This study includes 39,156 people, utilizing data from the NHANES cycles of 2011-2018. Logistic regression analysis was utilised to examine the relationship between VATM and OA. VATM was classified into four categories to better investigate the correlation between varying VATM levels and OA, hence strengthening the validity of the findings. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis was employed to illustrate the nonlinear association between VATM and OA. Threshold saturation analysis was conducted to determine the critical point of VATM, and piecewise logistic regression was used to explore the changes on either side of this threshold. Finally, ROC analysis was used to evaluate the efficacy of VATM and BMI in forecasting the prevalence of OA.VATM was positively associated with OA prevalence (OR = 4.44, 95% CI = 3.08-6.39, P < 0.001). After adjusting for multiple covariates, this association remained significant (OR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.12-2.97, P = 0.017). When VATM was categorized, OA prevalence increased progressively across VATM quartiles. RCS analysis confirmed a nonlinear positive association (P-nonlinear < 0.0001), with threshold saturation analysis identifying a critical VATM value of 0.41 kg. Below this threshold, OA prevalence increased significantly (OR = 12.8, 95% CI = 3.49-49.9, P < 0.001), while above it, the association plateaued (OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 0.95-2.01, P = 0.082). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings. ROC analysis showed VATM had a significantly higher predictive value for OA than BMI (AUC: 0.6399 vs. 0.6178, P < 0.05), indicating its potential as a superior predictor of OA risk.In a representative sample of U.S. adults, VATM was positively associated with OA prevalence, and VATM demonstrated superior predictive ability for OA compared to BMI.