Association between visceral adiposity index and infertility in reproductive-aged women in the United States
Open accessAbstract
Over the years, obesity has become more commonplace and has had a substantial impact on several medical specialties, including reproductive medicine. The potential correlation between the visceral adiposity index (VAI) and infertility has yet to be determined. Women between the ages of 18 and 45 were included in this cross-sectional study, which was conducted as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2015 and 2020. Three tertiles were used to group VAI levels. Subgroup analysis and weighted binary logistic regression were employed to investigate the independent relationship between VAI and infertility. Smooth curve fitting was used to explore nonlinear relationships. This cross-sectional study followed the criteria of the STROBE guidelines. Of the 1231 participants, 127 were infertile women aged 18–45 years. A higher VAI was associated with a higher prevalence of infertility (OR = 1.22, 95% CI:1.03–1.45), which remained consistent across all subgroups (p > 0.05 for all interactions). We demonstrated a positive nonlinear association between VAI and infertility using a smooth curve fit. A higher visceral adiposity index level is positively correlated with a higher incidence of infertility among women in the United States. Women who are infertile can be identified using the visceral obesity index, and controlling visceral obesity may help lower the chances of becoming infertile.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The inclusion of height in the BRI formula distinguishes it from other obesity indices such as WWI or VAI, allowing it to more thoroughly reflect body composition and fat distribution.
“Additionally, the inclusion of height in the BRI formula distinguishes it from other obesity indices such as WWI or VAI, allowing it to more thoroughly reflect an individual’s body composition and fat distribution14,20,21.”
From The nonlinear association between body roundness index and infertility in married women (2025) · cites this paper as [14]
The Calculation of VAI section gives a VAI formula with no separate height term, providing limited support for the comparison. The paper does not discuss BRI or WWI, establish that BRI includes height, or show that BRI reflects body composition and fat distribution more thoroughly than VAI. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.72)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) is positively correlated with increased infertility incidence.
“Similarly, the Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI), which reflects dysfunction and accumulation of visceral adipose tissue, has been positively correlated with increased infertility incidence14.”
From The nonlinear association between body roundness index and infertility in married women (2025) · cites this paper as [14]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
von Elm, E., Altman, D. G., Egger, M., Pocock, S. J., Gøtzsche, P. C., Vandenbroucke, J. P., & Initiative, F. T. S. (2007) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040296 · Cited by 23,020 · see citing works
Characteristics of obesity in polycystic ovary syndrome: Etiology, treatment, and genetics
Glueck, C. J., & Goldenberg, N. (2019) · Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2018.11.002 · Cited by 442 · see citing works
Amato, M. C., Giordano, C., Pitrone, M., & Galluzzo, A. (2011) · Lipids in Health and Disease · doi:10.1186/1476-511x-10-183 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 41
- [1]Broughton DE Moley KH Obesity and female infertility: Potential mediators of obesity's impact Fertil. Steril. 2017 107 840 847 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2017.01.017 28292619 · DOI · Paper page
- [2]Buzadzic B New insights into male (in)fertility: The importance of NO Br. J. Pharmacol. 2014 172 1455 1467 10.1111/bph.12675 24601995 PMC4369256 · DOI
- [3]Isbir GG Ozan YD Nursing and midwifery students' experiences with the course of infertility and assisted reproductive techniques: A focus group study from Turkey Nurse Educ. Pract. 2018 28 235 241 10.1016/j.nepr.2017.10.002 29128735 · DOI
- [4]Catalano PM Shankar K Obesity and pregnancy: Mechanisms of short term and long term adverse consequences for mother and child BMJ 2017 356 j1 10.1136/bmj.j1 28179267 PMC6888512 · DOI · Paper page
- [5]El Salam MAA Obesity, an enemy of male fertility: A mini review Oman Med. J. 2018 33 3 6 10.5001/omj.2018.02 29467992 PMC5798797 · DOI
- [6]Jackson SS Anthropometric risk factors for cancers of the biliary tract in the biliary tract cancers pooling project Cancer Res. 2019 79 3973 3982 10.1158/0008-5472.Can-19-0459 31113819 PMC6759233 · DOI
- [7]Wei S Schmidt MD Dwyer T Norman RJ Venn AJ Obesity and menstrual irregularity: Associations with SHBG, testosterone, and insulin Obesity (Silver Spring) 2009 17 1070 1076 10.1038/oby.2008.641 19180069 · DOI
- [8]Gallagher CS Genome-wide association and epidemiological analyses reveal common genetic origins between uterine leiomyomata and endometriosis Nat. Commun. 2019 10 4857 10.1038/s41467-019-12536-4 31649266 PMC6813337 · DOI
- [9]Yi KW Association of body mass index with severity of endometriosis in Korean women Int. J. Gynaecol. Obstet. 2009 105 39 42 10.1016/j.ijgo.2008.11.001 19070854 · DOI
- [10]Schuler-Toprak S Ortmann O Buechler C Treeck O The complex roles of adipokines in polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis Biomedicines 2022 10.3390/biomedicines10102503 36289764 PMC9598769 · DOI
- [12]Spradley FT Metabolic abnormalities and obesity's impact on the risk for developing preeclampsia Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 2017 312 R5 R12 10.1152/ajpregu.00440.2016 27903516 PMC5283940 · DOI
- [13]Lashen H Fear K Sturdee DW Obesity is associated with increased risk of first trimester and recurrent miscarriage: Matched case-control study Hum. Reprod. 2004 19 1644 1646 10.1093/humrep/deh277 15142995 · DOI · Paper page
- [14]van der Steeg JW Obesity affects spontaneous pregnancy chances in subfertile, ovulatory women Hum. Reprod. 2008 23 324 328 10.1093/humrep/dem371 18077317 · DOI
- [15]Wise LA An internet-based prospective study of body size and time-to-pregnancy Hum. Reprod. 2009 25 253 264 10.1093/humrep/dep360 19828554 PMC2794667 · DOI
- [16]Marquard KL Polycystic ovary syndrome and maternal obesity affect oocyte size in in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles Fertil. Steril. 2011 95 2146 2149.e2141 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2010.10.026 21071018 PMC3684964 · DOI
- [17]Low N National, regional, and global trends in infertility prevalence since 1990: A systematic analysis of 277 health surveys PLoS Med. 2012 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001356 PMC3525527 23271957 · DOI
- [18]Stevens J McClain JE Truesdale KP Selection of measures in epidemiologic studies of the consequences of obesity Int. J. Obes. 2008 32 S60 S66 10.1038/ijo.2008.88 18695656 · DOI
- [19]Amato MC Giordano C Visceral adiposity index: An indicator of adipose tissue dysfunction Int. J. Endocrinol. 2014 2014 730827 10.1155/2014/730827 24829577 PMC4009335 · DOI
- [20]Kahn HS The, "lipid accumulation product" performs better than the body mass index for recognizing cardiovascular risk: A population-based comparison BMC Cardiovasc. Disord. 2005 10.1186/1471-2261-5-26 16150143 PMC1236917 · DOI
- [21]Zheng SH Li XL Visceral adiposity index as a predictor of clinical severity and therapeutic outcome of PCOS Gynecol. Endocrinol. 2016 32 177 183 10.3109/09513590.2015.1111327 26502288 · DOI · Paper page
- [22]Hackney AJ Klinedinst NJ Resnick B Johantgen M Association of systemic inflammation and fatigue in osteoarthritis: 2007–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Biol. Res. Nurs. 2019 21 532 543 10.1177/1099800419859091 31238698 · DOI
- [25]Wise LA Palmer JR Rosenberg L Body size and time-to-pregnancy in black women Hum. Reprod. 2013 28 2856 2864 10.1093/humrep/det333 23958939 PMC3777573 · DOI
- [26]Qin Z Higher visceral adiposity index is associated with increased likelihood of abdominal aortic calcification Clinics (Sao Paulo) 2022 77 100114 10.1016/j.clinsp.2022.100114 36166992 PMC9513216 · DOI
- [27]Wen Z Li X Association between weight-adjusted-waist index and female infertility: A population-based study Front. Endocrinol. (Lausanne) 2023 14 1175394 10.3389/fendo.2023.1175394 37614708 PMC10442810 · DOI
- [28]Zeng Z Elevated visceral adiposity index linked to improved cognitive function in middle-aged and elderly Chinese: Evidence from the China health and retirement longitudinal study Front. Aging Neurosci. 2023 15 1270239 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1270239 37927334 PMC10623008 · DOI
- [29]Francis EC Zhang L Witrick B Chen L Health behaviors of American pregnant women: A cross-sectional analysis of NHANES 2007–2014 J. Public Health (Oxf.) 2021 43 131 138 10.1093/pubmed/fdz117 31832663 · DOI
- [30]Reinstatler L Khaleel S Pais VM Jr Association of pregnancy with stone formation among women in the United States: A NHANES analysis 2007 to 2012 J. Urol. 2017 198 389 393 10.1016/j.juro.2017.02.3233 28238670 · DOI
- [31]Sun C Wang R Li Z Zhang D Dietary magnesium intake and risk of depression J. Affect. Disord. 2019 246 627 632 10.1016/j.jad.2018.12.114 30611059 · DOI
- [32]Faulkner JL Obesity-associated cardiovascular risk in women: Hypertension and heart failure Clin. Sci. (Lond.) 2021 135 1523 1544 10.1042/CS20210384 34160010 · DOI
- [33]Ibanez L de Zegher F Adolescent PCOS: A postpubertal central obesity syndrome Trends Mol. Med. 2023 29 354 363 10.1016/j.molmed.2023.02.006 36964058 · DOI
- [34]Legro RS Diagnosis and treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome: An Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2013 98 4565 4592 10.1210/jc.2013-2350 24151290 PMC5399492 · DOI · Paper page
- [35]Gesink Law DC Maclehose RF Longnecker MP Obesity and time to pregnancy Hum. Reprod. 2007 22 414 420 10.1093/humrep/del400 17095518 PMC1924918 · DOI · Paper page
- [36]Norman RJ Chura LR Robker RL Effects of obesity on assisted reproductive technology outcomes Fertil. Steril. 2008 89 1611 1612 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.02.065 17548073 · DOI
- [37]Steegers-Theunissen R Pre-conception interventions for subfertile couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology treatment: Modeling analysis JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2020 8 e19570 10.2196/19570 33226349 PMC7721553 · DOI
- [38]Kasum M The role of female obesity on in vitro fertilization outcomes Gynecol. Endocrinol. 2018 34 184 188 10.1080/09513590.2017.1391209 29037105 · DOI
- [39]Kang YM Visceral adiposity index predicts the conversion of metabolically healthy obesity to an unhealthy phenotype PLoS One 2017 12 e0179635 10.1371/journal.pone.0179635 28644850 PMC5482460 · DOI
- [40]van der Ham K Change in androgenic status and cardiometabolic profile of middle-aged women with polycystic ovary syndrome J. Clin. Med. 2023 10.3390/jcm12165226 37629271 PMC10455407 · DOI
- [41]Jacewicz-Święcka M Kowalska I Polycystic ovary syndrome and the risk of cardiometabolic complications in longitudinal studies Diabetes Metab. Res. Rev. 2018 10.1002/dmrr.3054 30089337 · DOI
- [42]Lindley KJ Contraception and reproductive planning for women with cardiovascular disease J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2021 77 1823 1834 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.02.025 33832608 PMC8041063 · DOI
- [43]Pasquali R Obesity and reproductive disorders in women Hum. Reprod. Update 2003 9 359 372 10.1093/humupd/dmg024 12926529 · DOI
- [44]Tchernof A Despres JP Pathophysiology of human visceral obesity: An update Physiol. Rev. 2013 93 359 404 10.1152/physrev.00033.2011 23303913 · DOI · Paper page
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The nonlinear association between body roundness index and infertility in married women
Fang, Y., Ren, D., Pan, J., & Xu, Q. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-86948-2 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
- Authors
- Zhuang, J., Wang, Y., Wang, S., Hu, R., & Wu, Y.
- Affiliations
- Jiangnan University (CN)
- Wuxi Fourth People's Hospital (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Hu, Renjing
- Wu, Yibo
- Venue
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2024-06-20
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 14230-14230
- ISSN
- 2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11189895
- OpenAlex
- W4399858360
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 5
- FWCI
- 9.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wuxi Taihu Lake Talent Plan (4532001THMD)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Ovarian function and disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Reproductive Health and Technologies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Keywords
- visceral adiposity index, infertility, women of reproductive age, visceral obesity, obesity, nonlinear relationship, NHANES
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Infertility, Female, Middle Aged, Nutrition Surveys, United States, Body Mass Index, Prevalence, Intra-Abdominal Fat, Adiposity, Young Adult, Obesity, Abdominal
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review