The Visceral Adiposity Index Is a Significantly Stronger Predictor of Incident Diabetes in Men than in Women

The visceral adiposity index (VAI) is a validated tool for the evaluation of visceral adiposity, using waist circumference, serum triglycerides, age and gender to diagnose this metabolic abnormality. We aimed at investigating the power of the VAI to predict diabetes incidence in men and in women. We prospectively recorded diabetes incidence in a large consecutive cohort of 1282 patients undergoing coronary angiography for the evaluation of established or suspected coronary artery disease who did not have diabetes at baseline. The VAI was calculated according to the Amato formula; diabetes was diagnosed according to ADA criteria. At baseline, the VAI score did not differ significantly between men (n=845) and women (230±199 vs. 238±239; p=0.247). Prospectively, 133 patients newly developed diabetes during a follow-up period of 3.7±0.9 years; diabetes incidence did not differ significantly between men and women (13.3 vs. 9.8%; p=0.093. The VAI significantly predicted incident diabetes in men but not in women both univariately (standardized odds ratios (ORs) of 1.71 [1.40-2.10]; p<0.001 and 1.09 [0.81-1.49]; p=0.565, respectively) and after multivariate adjustment (standardized adjusted ORs 1.56 [1.24-1.97]; p<0.001 and 1.[0.75-1.46]; p=0.790, respectively). An interaction term VAI x gender was statistically significant (p=0.017), indicating that the VAI was a significantly stronger predictor of diabetes incidence among men than women. We conclude that the VAI is a significantly stronger predictor of diabetes incidence in men than in women.