ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1612801
This article is part of the Research TopicMild cognitive impairment and cognitive agingView all 8 articles
Impact of visceral adiposity index on cognitive impairment and cognitive trajectories in Chinese middle-aged and older adults
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China
- 2Department of Neurology, West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China
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The association between the visceral adiposity index (VAI) and cognitive function in middle-aged and older Chinese adults is not well understood. The " obesity paradox " -where obesity appears to be linked with better health outcomes-has also been observed. This study aims to clarify the association by using data from a nationally representative longitudinal survey.Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) from 2011 to 2020. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to assess the effect of VAI on the occurrence of cognitive impairment.Additionally, cognitive trajectories over the study period were identified using group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM), and the association between VAI and cognitive trajectories was further analyzed through multinomial logistic regression.Results: A total of 5637 participants aged ≥45 years were included, of whom 46.6% were women. The risk of cognitive impairment was lower in participants with higher VAI scores (Q3: HR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.67-0.94; Q4: HR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.70-0.98). Cognitive trajectories over the 9-year period were categorized into four groups based on cognitive Zscores: "high and stable" (n = 621, 12.6%), "middle and stable" (n = 2157, 36.7%), "low and stable" (n = 1856, 32.8%), and "low and decline" (n = 1003, 17.9%). After adjusting for demographic and health-related variables, participants in the highest VAI quartile (Q4) had a significantly lower likelihood of experiencing cognitive decline. (adjusted OR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.48-0.93).Greater visceral adiposity was associated with a lower risk of developing cognitive impairment and a more favorable cognitive trajectory over time.
Keywords: visceral adiposity index, Visceral obesity, Cognitive Function, Cognitive trajectory, CHARLS
Received: 16 Apr 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Zhou, Han, Ma, Jiang, Yang, Du and Yang. 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: Yanfang Yang, Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China
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