Developments in Estimating Visceral Fat Area from Medical Examination Data

AIM: The aim of this study is to develop a simple method for estimating visceral fat area (VFA) using medical examination data. METHODS: The study subjects were 100 males who had undergone medical examinations and computed tomography (CT) at the umbilicus level. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to estimate VFA. The Bland & Altman Method was used to examine the tendency for mean difference between VFA observed by CT and VFA estimated by medical examination data. We calculated cross-validation and sensitivity and specificity at VFA > or = 100 cm2. RESULTS: As a result of multiple regression analysis, the waist-height ratio (WHtR) and triglyceride (TG) were taken as independent variables (r=0.910). The Bland & Altman Method showed 0.00+/-63.88 cm2. The cross-validation regression equation was r=0.889. Sensitivity was 0.833 and specificity was 0.900. CONCLUSION: WHtR is a simple index used to diagnose the accumulation of VFA. It has been reported that TG, which increases with accumulating VFA, is a factor in hyperlipidemia; therefore, we consider the obtained independent variables to be appropriate. In addition, the regression equation showed high correlation and good results by cross-validation, the Bland & Altman Method, sensitivity, and specificity. We assert that VFA can be estimated using this method.