Correlation Between Metabolic Score for Visceral Fat and Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome: Analysis of NHANES 2011–2020

Background: Cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome with high incidence and mortality rates is a prevalent health issue globally. The Metabolic Score for Visceral Fat (METS-VF), as a new index for valuating visceral adipose tissue, has been reported to be closely related to a variety of diseases. However, whether the METS-VF can be an indicator to predict the risk of CKM syndrome remains unclear. Methods: We selected National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database data from the 2011-2020 year cycles and conducted analyses between the METS-VF and CKM syndrome utilizing weighted Cox regression models, subgroup and interaction analysis, and restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis. We also used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to analyze and compare the diagnostic predictive ability of the METS-VF, the BMI, and other indicators assessing adipose tissue, including the VAI, fat mass, and lean mass, in CKM syndrome. Results: In this study, the average age was 34.40 ± 0.61 years in the non-CKM patients, while the average age was over 40.38 ± 0.62 years in the CKM patients. Additionally, there was a greater proportion of male patients in the CKM patients (over 49.04%) in comparison with the non-CKM patients (37.94%). The average METS-VF was higher in the CKM patients (over 6.63 ± 0.02) compared with the non-CKM patients (5.62 ± 0.03). We found the METS-VF had a positive correlation with CKM syndrome and was hardly affected by other confounding factors. The METS-VF was more closely associated with CKM syndrome in the subgroup of age 20-59 and female patients. In addition, the METS-VF had better diagnostic ability for CKM syndrome than the body mass index (BMI) and other indicators. Conclusions: The METS-VF is a potentially actionable indicator that had a positive correlation with CKM risk. The METS-VF may be used as a possible reference in the management of CKM syndrome.