Association of the triglyceride glucose index-a body shape index (TyG-ABSI) with arterial stiffness: a cross-sectional study in Chinese adults

Arterial stiffness is an important indicator of vascular aging and cardiovascular risk, making early identification clinically relevant. The triglyceride-glucose-body shape index (TyG-ABSI) is a novel metric that integrates insulin resistance and body shape-related adiposity. However, the association between TyG-ABSI and arterial stiffness remains incompletely characterized. This cross-sectional study included 4,293 participants from Gaoyou City, Jiangsu Province, China. Arterial stiffness was defined as brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) ≥ 1,800 cm/s. Multivariable regression and restricted cubic spline analyses were used to evaluate the associations of TyG-ABSI with baPWV and arterial stiffness. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and pairwise DeLong tests were used to compare the discriminatory performance of TyG-ABSI with that of the TyG index and other TyG-derived indices. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the findings. After full adjustment, higher TyG-ABSI was significantly associated with increased baPWV (β = 41; 95% CI, 30–52) and greater odds of arterial stiffness (OR = 1.63; 95% CI, 1.37–1.94), with restricted cubic spline analysis showing a significant overall association without significant evidence of nonlinearity. Among the evaluated indices, TyG-ABSI showed the highest area under the ROC curve (AUC) in the overall population (0.665; all pairwise DeLong tests, P < 0.05), albeit with modest discriminatory performance. Further stratification by sex showed a higher AUC in women (0.755) than in men (0.576). The associations were generally consistent across subgroups and remained robust in sensitivity analyses using a baPWV cutoff of ≥ 1,400 cm/s. TyG-ABSI was independently and positively associated with baPWV and arterial stiffness. Further prospective studies are needed to validate the generalizability of these findings and to evaluate the potential role of TyG-ABSI in arterial stiffness risk stratification.