Although several indices used in clinical practice identify cardiometabolic risk (CR) and metabolic syndrome (MetS), it is imperative to develop indices for specific populations. Therefore, we proposed and validated sex-specific indices to identify CR associated with visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation or MetS in Mexican adults. Additionally, a cut-off value for the visceral fat area (VFA) to identify CR was proposed. Clinical, anthropometric, biochemical, and body composition variables were evaluated in 904 subjects (25-45 years old) (84.4% men). Multiple and logistic regressions were used to model the indices and ROC curve analysis to determine predictive performance. An additional cohort (n = 186) was used for indices validation, and Cohen's kappa coefficient was employed for agreement analysis. The proposed sex-specific indices, called Mexican adiposity indices (MAIs) and biochemical-anthropometric indices (BAIs), were good predictors for CR and MetS. The kappa coefficients showed a moderate agreement level. The VFA cut-off value chosen to identify CR was 100.3 cm2 because it had the best combination of sensitivity (66.8%) and specificity (64.4%). MAIs and BAIs could be clinical tools to identify either CR associated to VAT accumulation or MetS, respectively. A VFA cut-off value of 100.3 cm2 could identify CR in Mexican men.
Keywords: adiposity indices; cardiometabolic risk; insulin resistance indices; metabolic syndrome; visceral adipose tissue.