Association of visceral fat area with early-stage locomotive syndrome across various age groups: a cross-sectional study

The association between visceral fat area (VFA) and locomotive syndrome (LS) has been extensively studied in the older population; however, the association between VFA and early-stage LS (stage 1 [LS1]) remains unclear. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated this association across different age groups. The study involved 1,236 (524 male and 712 female) participants (aged 20-85 years). Multiple regression analysis adjusted for sex, body mass index, skeletal muscle mass index, T-score, exercise habits, smoking status, and alcohol consumption revealed a significant association between LS1 and VFA across all VFA quartiles. The adjusted odds ratio OR for quartiles 2, 3, and 4 was 1.84, 2.68, and 4.12, respectively. The association between LS1 and VFA across the age groups-high VFA (> 73 cm²) and non-older (< 65 years) (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.28-2.72; p = 0.001), low VFA (≤ 73 cm²) and older (≥ 65 years) (OR, 3.16; 95% CI, 1.94-5.14; p < 0.001), and high VFA and older groups (OR, 6.43; 95% CI, 3.98-10.4; p < 0.001)-was significantly stronger than that in the low VFA and non-older group. In summary, our findings suggest that managing VFA through diet and exercise is crucial for preventing LS1 across all age groups.