Visceral Adiposity Index and Lipid Accumulation Product as Predictors of Cardiometabolic Disease Risk among Undergraduate Medical Students at a Tertiary Care Center, Karnataka: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Medical profession can be stressful contributing to obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cardiometabolic disease (CMD).Initially, lipid profile often remains normal with significant changes appearing only when CMD is established.Hence, this study aimed in assessing visceral adiposity index (VAI) and lipid accumulation product (LAP) among overweight and obese medical students in comparison to the group with normal body mass index (BMI) and to correlate them with anthropometry and biochemical parameters associated with CMD risk as early predictors among medical students.Materials and methods: This study involved 180 medical students, with data collected on sociodemographics, anthropometry and blood pressure.Fasting lipid profile was analyzed and surrogate markers-VAI and LAP were calculated.The association between VAI, LAP, and other parameters was assessed using Pearson's correlation with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant.Results: Approximately 39.5% of the participants had normal BMI, 32.5% were overweight and 28% were obese.Mean values of anthropometry, biochemical parameters except for high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), VAI, and LAP were higher in overweight and obese group compared to normal BMI group.Correlation analysis of VAI and LAP among overweight group showed significant positive correlation with BMI (r = 0.940, p < 0.001; r = 0.936, p < 0.001), waist to hip ratio (WHR) (r = 0.079, p = 0.559; r = 0.172, p = 0.200), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (r = 0.903, p < 0.001; r = 0.921, p < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (r = 0.898, p < 0.001; r = 0.921, p < 0.001), total cholesterol (TC) (r = 0.906, p < 0.00; r = 0.966, p < 0.001), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) (r = 0.831, p < 0.001; r = 0.918, p < 0.001) and triglyceride (TG) (r = 0.477, p < 0.001; r = 0.542, p < 0.001).Whereas, HDL-C (r = -0.585,p < 0.001; r = -0.620,p < 0.001) showed significant negative correlation.Similarly in obese group, VAI and LAP showed significant positive correlation with BMI (r = 0.960, p < 0.001; r = 0.901, p < 0.001), WHR (r = 0.486, p = 0.200; r = 0.463, p < 0.001*), SBP (r = 0.964, p < 0.001; r = 0.989, p < 0.001], DBP (r = 0.964, p < 0.001; r = 0.983, p < 0.001), TC (r = 0.984, p < 0.001; r = 0.966, p < 0.001), TG (r = 0.982, p < 0.001; r = 0.972, p < 0.001), LDL-C (r = 0.768, p < 0.001; r = 0.696, p < 0.001).Whereas, HDL-C (r = -0.767,p < 0.001; r = -0.875,p < 0.001) showed significant negative correlation. Conclusions:The study showed that VAI and LAP are effective predictors of CMD risk in healthy medical students.These simple, inexpensive, and noninvasive markers with routine screenings could enhance early CMD risk detection at no extra cost.