Korean J Intern Med.  2021 Jan;36(1):97-105. 10.3904/kjim.2018.427.

Risk for metabolic syndrome in the population with visceral fat area measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis

• Jeon HH
• Lee YK
• Kim DH
• Pak H
• Shin SY
• Seo JH

• KMID: 2509797
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3904/kjim.2018.427

Abstract

Background/Aims
To investigate whether visceral fat area (VFA) measured by bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) was associated with metabolic syndrome in subjects with and without obesity.
Methods
A total 23,202 participants who underwent medical check-ups were assessed. Participants were stratified by body mass index (BMI) and VFA. We evaluated six different groups for metabolic syndrome: Group 1 (normal weight and low VFA), Group 2 (normal weight and high VFA), Group 3 (overweight and low VFA), Group 4 (overweight and high VFA), Group 5 (obesity and low VFA), and Group 6 (obesity and high VFA).
Results
Metabolic syndrome traits and metabolic syndrome were significantly more prevalent in the high-VFA (≥ 100 cm² ) subgroup in each BMI group. Adjusted logistic regression analyses revealed that the odds ratio for metabolic syndrome compared with Group 1 was the highest in Group 6 (24.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 21.77 to 27.64). Notably, the odds ratio of Group 2 was higher than that of Group 3 (2.92; 95% CI, 2.30 to 3.69 vs. 2.57; 95% CI, 2.23 to 2.97).
Conclusions
Our study demonstrates that the combination of BMI assessment and VFA determination by BIA may be a useful method for predicting the risk of metabolic syndrome. The VFA by BIA may be a useful target for interventions to improve metabolic syndrome.

Keyword

Intra-abdominal fat; Metabolic syndrome; Electric impedance