The association between anthropometric indices with non-alcoholic fatty liver in the Azar cohort population

Based on the findings of previous studies, inconsistencies persist in the literature regarding the most reliable anthropometric indices for screening non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the most effective anthropometric indices for predicting NAFLD in the Azar cohort population. In this cross-sectional study, data from the Azar cohort study were utilized. Various anthropometric indices, including visceral adiposity index (VAI), weight-adjusted waist index (WWI), abdominal volume index (AVI), body adiposity index (BAI), body roundness index (BRI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), were calculated for 14,915 participants. We categorized anthropometric measurements into two groups: conventional and novel anthropometric indices. Conventional indices include body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), wrist circumference (WrC), hip circumference (HC), WHR, WHtR, and novel indices include BRI, ABI, AVI, VAI, and WWI. Our findings indicated that all conventional and novel anthropometric indices were significantly associated with NAFLD. The highest odd for NAFLD was WHtR ≥ 0.5 (4.76), then BMI ≥ 25 (3.27), followed by WHR and WC (2.79, 2.65 respectively). A comparison of the odds of conventional and novel anthropometric indices for NAFLD revealed that the odds for BMI, WhtR, WHR and WC are higher than those for the novel indices. While the most sensitive AUC outcomes for screening NAFLD were observed for the AVI (80.80) and BRI (79.01). The AVI and BRI cut-off points for determining NAFLD were established at 17.31 for AVI and 4.85 for BRI. Ultimately, BMI, WC, WHR, AVI, BRI, and VAI were the most effective anthropometric indices for predicting NAFLD in the Azar cohort population. In conclusion, our study suggests that novel anthropometric indices might be useful markers for detecting NAFLD in adults, alongside conventional anthropometric measures.