Diagnostic value of visceral adiposity index in chronic kidney disease: a meta-analysis

• Published in: Acta diabetologica Vol. 60; no. 6; pp. 739 - 748
• Main Authors: Fang, Tingting, Zhang, Qiuling, Wang, Yanmei, Zha, Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Milan Springer Milan 01-06-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Adiposity; Diabetes; Diabetic Nephropathy; Humans; Internal Medicine; Kidney diseases; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Meta-analysis; Metabolic Diseases; Odds Ratio; Quality control; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic - diagnosis; Review Article; Chronic kidney disease (CKD); Visceral adiposity index (VAI); Meta-analysis
• ISSN: 1432-5233; 0940-5429; 1432-5233
• DOI: 10.1007/s00592-023-02048-5

Aims
Several studies have revealed inconsistencies about the predictive properties of visceral adiposity index (VAI) in identifying chronic kidney disease (CKD). To date, it is unclear whether the VAI is a valuable diagnostic tool for CKD. This study intended to evaluate the predictive properties of the VAI in identifying CKD.
Methods
The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were searched for all studies that met our criteria from the earliest available article until November 2022. Articles were assessed for quality using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2). The heterogeneity was explored with the Cochran Q test and
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2
test. Publication bias was detected using Deek’s Funnel plot. Review Manager 5.3, Meta-disc 1.4, and STATA 15.0 were used for our study.
Results
Seven studies involving 65,504 participants met our selection criteria and were therefore included in the analysis. Pooled sensitivity (Sen), specificity (Spe), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and area under the curve (AUC) were 0.67 (95%CI: 0.54–0.77), 0.75 (95%CI: 0.65–0.83), 2.7 (95%CI: 1.7–4.2), 0.44 (95%CI: 0.29–0.66), 6 (95%CI:3.00–14.00) and 0.77 (95%CI: 0.74–0.81), respectively. Subgroup analysis indicated that mean age of subjects was the potential source of heterogeneity. The Fagan diagram found that the predictive properties of CKD were 73% when the pretest probability was set to 50%.
Conclusions
The VAI is a valuable agent in predicting CKD and may be helpful in the detection of CKD. More studies are needed for further validation.