Association of Visceral and Dysfunctional Adiposity Indices with Gallstone Disease: A Retrospective Observational Study

Aim: Evidence regarding the association of the visceral adiposity index (VAI) and dysfunctional adiposity index (DAI) with gallstone presence remains limited. This study evaluated their associations with gallstone presence and their discriminative performance.Material and Methods: This retrospective observational study included 721 adults who underwent abdominal ultrasonography between 2018 and 2024. Demographic, anthropometric, and laboratory data were retrieved from medical records. VAI and DAI were compared between patients with and without gallstones.Results: Gallstones were identified in 362 patients, while 359 patients served as gallstone-negative controls. Patients with gallstones were older (48.6±12.3 vs. 44.1±11.8 years, p<0.001), more frequently female (62.4% vs. 54.3%, p=0.028), and had higher BMI values (29.4±4.7 vs. 27.8±4.3 kg/m², p<0.001). Fasting glucose, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels were higher, whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were lower in the gallstone group. VAI (3.42±1.11 vs. 2.87±1.04) and DAI (1.74±0.52 vs. 1.49±0.47) were also significantly higher in patients with gallstones (both p<0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated moderate discrimination for VAI (area under the curve (AUC)=0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.66-0.75, p<0.001) and DAI (AUC=0.69, 95% CI: 0.65-0.74, p<0.001). Age (odds ratio (OR)=1.03, 95% CI: 1.01-1.05, p=0.001), female sex (OR=1.38, 95% CI: 1.02-1.89, p=0.037), VAI (OR=1.62, 95% CI: 1.25-2.10, p<0.001), and DAI (OR=1.47, 95% CI: 1.12-1.93, p=0.005) were found independently associated with gallstone presence.Conclusion: Higher VAI and DAI values were independently associated with gallstone presence. However, their moderate discriminative performance suggests that they should be considered complementary metabolic indicators rather than stand-alone diagnostic tools.