Abstract:
Objective To investigate the association between obesity-related metabolic indices and the risk of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in middle-aged and older Chinese adults (≥ 45 years) using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).
Methods Data from two CHARLS survey waves (2011-2012 and 2015-2016) were analyzed. Obesity indices-including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), visceral adiposity index (VAI), a body shape index (ABSI), body roundness index (BRI), lipid accumulation product (LAP), conicity index (CI), and Chinese visceral adiposity index (CVAI) -and metabolic indices-triglyceride glucose index (TyG), TyG-BMI, TyG-WC, and TyG-WHtR-were collected. Covariates comprised demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and health status. Three multivariate logistic regression models were constructed. Sex-subgroup analyses assessed heterogeneity, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves with area under the curve (AUC) were used to evaluate diagnostic performance.
Results Among 9527 participants, the prevalence of KOA was 9.59% (914/9527). After adjusting for confounders, linear regression revealed significant positive associations between KOA and BMI (
OR=1.02, 95% CI:1.00-1.04,
P=0.048), BRI (
OR=1.06, 95% CI:1.01-1.13,
P=0.030), LAP (
OR=1.03, 95% CI:1.00-1.05,
P=0.020), TyG-BMI (
OR=1.02, 95% CI:1.00-1.05,
P=0.020), and TyG-WHtR (
OR=1.13, 95% CI:1.021.25,
P=0.020). Sex-stratified analyses showed that in women, BMI (
OR=1.03, 95% CI:1.01-1.06,
P=0.020), WHtR (
OR=1.18, 95% CI:1.02-1.36,
P=0.020), BRI (
OR=1.08, 95% CI:1.011.16,
P=0.020), LAP (
OR=1.03, 95% CI:1.01-1.06,
P=0.020), CVAI (
OR=1.04, 95% CI:1.01-1.07,
P=0.009), TyG-BMI (
OR=1.03, 95% CI:1.01-1.06,
P=0.006), TyG-WC (
OR=1.10, 95% CI:1.01-1.19,
P=0.02), and TyG-WHtR (
OR=1.18, 95% CI:1.04-1.34,
P=0.010) were positively associated with KOA, whereas no significant associations were observed in men (
P>0.05 for all indices). Significant sex interactions were found for WC (
P=0.010), CVAI (
P=0.002), and TyG-WC (
P=0.020). ROC analysis indicated limited diagnostic utility for all indices (AUC:BRI=0.547, TyGWHtR=0.544; others ≤ 0.530).
Conclusions BMI, BRI, LAP, TyG-BMI, and TyG-WHtR may serve as auxiliary indicators for KOA risk assessment in middle-aged and older women, but their standalone screening value remains modest. Clinical evaluation and integration with other risk factors are recommended for comprehensive risk stratification.