Association between Chinese visceral adiposity index and prevalent hypertension among older adults in rural China: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

The Chinese visceral adiposity index (CVAI) has been shown to be a practical indicator of visceral adiposity, but its association with prevalent hypertension in older adults remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between CVAI and prevalent hypertension and to compare the discriminatory ability of CVAI with conventional obesity indicators among older adults in rural China.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 3,280 adults aged 65 years or older who were recruited in Baima Town, Taizhou, China, in 2025. Logistic regression models with progressive adjustment were used to evaluate the association between CVAI and prevalent hypertension. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis was performed to assess the dose-response relationship. Subgroup and sensitivity analyzes were conducted to examine the robustness of the findings. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyzes were performed to compare the discriminatory ability of CVAI with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC).

RESULTS

Of the 3,280 participants, 2,692 (82.1%) had hypertension. Participants with hypertension had higher CVAI values than those without hypertension [108.35 (79.80-134.24) vs 86.34 (55.72-112.39), P < 0.001]. After full adjustment, each 10-unit and 1-standard deviation increase in CVAI was associated with higher odds of prevalent hypertension (OR = 1.143, 95% CI:1.114-1.173 and OR = 1.709, 95% CI:1.528-1.915, respectively; both P < 0.001). RCS analysis demonstrated a positive association between CVAI and prevalent hypertension, with no evidence of significant nonlinearity (P for nonlinearity = 0.153).

CONCLUSION

CVAI was independently associated with prevalent hypertension among older adults in rural China. CVAI may provide information for cardiometabolic risk assessment among older adults in rural China.