Table 1.
Characteristics of NHANES participants, 2003–2018, by VAI quartiles
| Men | Women | |||||||||
| Quartile 1 (≤0.87) |
Quartile 2 (0.87–1.45) |
Quartile 3 (1.46–2.49) |
Quartile 4 (>2.49) |
P value | Quartile 1 (≤0.99) |
Quartile 2 (1.00–1.63) |
Quartile 3 (1.63–2.65) |
Quartile 4 (>2.65) |
P value | |
| Age (years) | 51 (36–64) | 53 (41–65) | 53 (40–65) | 51 (41–64) | <0.001 | 51 (37–64) | 55 (41–67) | 56 (45–68) | 57 (43–67) | <0.001 |
| Ethnicity (%) | ||||||||||
| Hispanic | 10.4 | 12.4 | 12.1 | 11.5 | <0.001 | 10.0 | 14.7 | 15.3 | 13.5 | <0.001 |
| White | 66.6 | 72.4 | 74.6 | 78.8 | <0.001 | 64.5 | 69.0 | 68.4 | 75.2 | <0.001 |
| Black | 17.2 | 10.7 | 6.6 | 3.9 | <0.001 | 18.6 | 11.6 | 9.6 | 3.8 | <0.001 |
| High education (%) | 83.8 | 83.7 | 83.8 | 82.4 | <0.001 | 86.5 | 82.3 | 79.5 | 76.5 | <0.001 |
| Current smokers (%) | 12.8 | 16.5 | 17.0 | 17.7 | <0.001 | 7.1 | 10.0 | 14.1 | 19.2 | <0.001 |
| Current drinkers (%) | 17.7 | 13.6 | 11.4 | 13.2 | <0.001 | 16.7 | 13.2 | 15.0 | 14.8 | <0.001 |
| Physical activity (%) | 80.2 | 74.3 | 71.8 | 69.1 | <0.001 | 72.6 | 66.9 | 61.9 | 56.7 | <0.001 |
| Obese (%) | 21.6 | 26.8 | 44.0 | 53.1 | <0.001 | 20.3 | 34.0 | 49.3 | 61.0 | <0.001 |
| CVD (%) | 9.7 | 11.0 | 17.7 | 18.4 | <0.001 | 7.4 | 10.9 | 9.9 | 14.8 | <0.001 |
| T2DM (%) | 9.1 | 11.6 | 20.6 | 26.0 | <0.001 | 5.1 | 9.9 | 17.5 | 27.2 | <0.001 |
| Hypertension (%) | 33.4 | 43.4 | 49.0 | 54.6 | <0.001 | 30.8 | 42.9 | 49.0 | 57.1 | <0.001 |
| MetS (%) | 14.1 | 23.8 | 51.9 | 85.8 | <0.001 | 12.6 | 30.1 | 50.4 | 87.5 | <0.001 |
| NAFLD (%) | 14.9 | 28.8 | 50.3 | 68.2 | <0.001 | 5.3 | 18.6 | 35.0 | 62.3 | <0.001 |
| PIR (%) | 3.5 (1.9–5.0) | 3.6 (2.0–5.0) | 3.2 (1.8–5.0) | 3.3 (1.83–5.0) | <0.001 | 3.4 (1.7–5.0) | 3.0 (1.5–4.9) | 2.6 (1.3–4.6) | 2.3 (1.3–4.0) | <0.001 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 24.9 (23.2–29.3) | 27.3 (24.8–30.3) | 29.4 (26.2–32.9) | 30.4 (27.7–34.4) | <0.001 | 24.6 (22.0–28.7) | 27.3 (24.2–32.1) | 29.9 (25.8–35.1) | 31.8 (27.7–36.6) | <0.001 |
| WC (cm) | 94.5 (85.8–104.6) | 100 (92.5–108.3) | 106.2 (97.2–115.8) | 107.6 (100.5–118.8) | <0.001 | 86.5 (79.0–95.5) | 94.0 (86.0–104.5) | 100.5 (91.3–111.6) | 106.1 (97.0–117) | <0.001 |
| SBP (mm Hg) | 120.7 (111–131) | 122.7 (112–132) | 121.3 (114.0–121) | 124.7 (116–134) | <0.001 | 114.7 (104–129) | 121 (109–135) | 123 (112–137) | 124 (114–138) | <0.001 |
| DBP (mm Hg) | 70 (63–76) | 71 (64–78) | 73 (66–80) | 74 (67–82) | <0.001 | 68 (61–74) | 69 (62–76) | 70 (62–76) | 70 (62–76) | <0.001 |
| ALT (U/L) | 21 (17–26) | 24 (19–30) | 26 (20–34) | 28 (22–38) | <0.001 | 17 (14–21) | 18 (14–21) | 19 (15–24) | 21 (16–27) | <0.001 |
| AST (U/L) | 23 (20–27) | 24 (20–27) | 24 (20–28) | 25 (21–30) | <0.001 | 21 (18–24) | 21 (18–24) | 21 (18–24) | 22 (19–27) | <0.001 |
| FPG (mg/dL) | 100 (94–108) | 102 (96–110) | 105 (96–117) | 106 (98–122) | <0.001 | 94 (89–100) | 98 (92–107) | 100 (94–109) | 105 (96–122) | <0.001 |
| Insulin (µU/mL) | 6.3 (4.2–9.7) | 8.1 (5.5–12.8) | 11.4 (7.2–17.2) | 14.2 (9.3–21.9) | <0.001 | 5.8 (3.9–8.5) | 8.9 (5.9–12.4) | 10.5 (6.9–16.8) | 14.8 (9.4–22.3) | <0.001 |
| HOMA-IR | 1.6 (1.0–2.5) | 2.1 (1.4–3.4) | 3.0 (1.8–4.8) | 3.9 (2.6–6.6) | <0.001 | 1.4 (0.9–2.1) | 2.2 (1.4–3.2) | 2.7 (1.7–4.3) | 4.0 (2.5–6.5) | <0.001 |
| CRP | 0.50 (0.09–1.58) | 0.40 (0.11–1.42) | 0.39 (0.12–1.31) | 0.40 (0.18–1.32) | <0.001 | 0.40 (0.08–1.20) | 0.50 (0.16–1.85) | 0.65 (0.22–2.16) | 0.74 (0.34–2.60) | <0.001 |
| HDL-C (mmol/L) | 1.5 (1.3–1.8) | 1.3 (1.2–1.4) | 1.1 (1.0–1.2) | 1.1 (1.0–1.3) | <0.001 | 1.9 (1.6–2.2) | 1.6 (1.4–1.7) | 1.4 (1.2–1.5) | 1.1 (1.0–1.3) | <0.001 |
| TC (mmol/L) | 4.6 (4.0–5.3) | 4.8 (4.2–5.5) | 4.9 (4.2–5.5) | 5.1 (4.5–5.9) | <0.001 | 5.0 (4.3–5.7) | 5.0 (4.3–5.7) | 5.1 (4.6–5.8) | 5.4 (4.6–6.3) | <0.001 |
| TG (mmol/L) | 0.7 (0.5–0.8) | 1.1 (0.9–1.2) | 1.5 (1.3–1.7) | 2.5 (2.1–3.2) | <0.001 | 0.7 (0.5–0.8) | 1.0 (0.9–1.1) | 1.4 (1.2–1.6) | 2.2 (1.8–2.7) | <0.001 |
| USFLI | 9.9 (5.1–21.7) | 18.8 (9.9–33.6) | 30.2 (15.8–50.0) | 43.0 (25.5–64.7) | <0.001 | 6.6 (3.1–12.1) | 14.7 (7.7–24.9) | 21.6 (11.4–39.4) | 37.9 (20.0–55.0) | <0.001 |
| NFS | −1.29 (−2.30 to –0.23) | −1.18 (−2.31 to 0.02) | −1.00 (−2.3 to –0.08) | −0.89 (−1.92 to,–0.16) | <0.001 | −1.73 (−2.78 to –0.60) | −1.34 (−2.36 to –0.24) | −1.08 (−2.21 to –0.12) | −1.02 (−2.02 to 0.19) | <0.001 |
| FIB-4 | 1.17 (0.74−1.69) | 1.10 (0.75−1.59) | 1.05 (0.74−1.49) | 1.05 (0.73−1.47) | <0.001 | 1.06 (0.72−1.55) | 1.06 (0.74−1.49) | 1.02 (0.71−1.40) | 0.99 (0.69−1.40) | <0.001 |
| APRI | 0.28 (0.23−0.36) | 0.27 (0.22−0.35) | 0.28 (0.22−0.35) | 0.29 (0.23−0.38) | <0.001 | 0.23 (0.18−0.30) | 0.22 (0.18−0.29) | 0.21 (0.17−0.27) | 0.22 (0.17−0.29) | <0.001 |
ALT, alanine aminotransferase; APRI, AST to platelet ratio index; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; BMI, body mass index; CRP, C reactive protein; CVD, cardiovascular disease; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; FIB-4, fibrosis-4 index; FPG, fasting plasma glucose; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HOMA-IR, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance; MetS, metabolic syndrome; NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; NFS, NAFLD fibrosis score; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; PIR, poverty-to-income ratio; SBP, systolic blood pressure; TC, total cholesterol; T2DM, type 2 diabetes mellitus; TG, triglycerides; USFLI, US fatty liver index; VAI, visceral adiposity index; WC, waist circumference.