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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1526377
This article is part of the Research Topic Preventative Medicine: Nutritional and Lifestyle Interventions for Healthy Ageing and Chronic Diseases View all 33 articles

The Relationship between Visceral Adipose Tissue and Osteoarthritis among Older Adults: evidence from the NHANES 1999-2018

Provisionally accepted
Wei Huang Wei Huang Yinsheng Xiao Yinsheng Xiao Yuhang Zou Yuhang Zou Luqun Zhong Luqun Zhong Guiqiong Huang Guiqiong Huang *
  • Huizhou Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China

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

    This study aimed to assess any possible links between visceral fat accumulation and an elevated prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA) in the elderly. Methods 3,779 subjects aged 65 years or older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2018 were finally included, of whom 516 had OA. The identification of patients diagnosed with OA was conducted using questionnaire data. The visceral adiposity index (VAI) was computed utilizing body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), triglycerides (TG), and highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). To investigate the relationship between VAI and OA, weighted multivariable logistic regression analysis, restricted cubic spline (RCS), subgroup analyses, and interaction tests were carried out.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the increase in VAI is accompanied by an increased prevalence of OA after fully correcting for variables. The top quartile of VAI had a prevalence that was 110% higher than the lowest quartile. A non-linear positive correlation between VAI and OA was found in the RCS.This study suggests a potential correlation between elevated VAI and increased prevalence of OA in older adults, and that lowering VAI may have an impact on the prevalence of OA.

    Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Obesity, visceral adiposity index, Cross-sectional study, NHANES

    Received: 11 Nov 2024; Accepted: 21 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Xiao, Zou, Zhong and Huang. 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: Guiqiong Huang, Huizhou Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China

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