Development of a Parsimonious Sagittal Abdominal Diameter‐Based Model for Estimating Visceral Fat Area in Central Obesity Assessment
Authors' conclusion
We developed parsimonious, cohort-specific SAD-based equations for estimating VFA. These equations demonstrated good agreement with reference VFA and effective discrimination for identifying individuals with ≥ 2 non-adipose components of MetS.
Study context
- Population
- Adults in NHANES 2011–2016 (reference visceral fat area (VFA) by DXA, N = 3878) and a Chinese adult cohort (reference VFA by computed tomography (CT), N = 190)two independent cohorts
- Participants
- 5,655 vs 3,927
- Exposure
- Sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD)-based estimated VFA vs reference VFA
- NHANES 2011-2016n = 5,655
- Chinese adultn = 3,927
- Outcome
- Performance of SAD-based VFA estimation models
Methodological detailstwo independent cohorts, sex-specific regression models, bootstrap internal validation, sensitivity analyses, Online calculator developed based on the SAD-eVFA model
- Two independent cohorts
- Sex-specific regression models
- Bootstrap internal validation
- Sensitivity analyses
- Online calculator developed based on the SAD-eVFA model
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Model fit, R2
0.67 to 0.81
Agreement with reference VFA, concordance correlation coefficients
0.805-0.893
Mean absolute errors
18.94-26.83 cm²
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Discrimination of ≥ 2 non-adipose metabolic syndrome (MetS) components
- Estimated VFA showed discrimination comparable to reference VFA
Sensitivity analyses
- Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the primary SAD-based model
Original publication
Development of a Parsimonious Sagittal Abdominal Diameter‐Based Model for Estimating Visceral Fat Area in Central Obesity Assessment. Diabetes Obes Metab. Published 1 September 2026. doi:10.
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