Relationship between visceral fat and diabetes mellitus in the elderly: A cross-sectional study.
4 affiliations
- 1Student Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
- 2Department of Internal Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
- 3Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
- 4Cancer Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
Abstract
Background
Diabetes mellitus and obesity are major public health concerns in older adults, and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is suggested to play a critical role in the metabolic dysfunction observed in type 2 diabetes. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between VAT and other obesity-related indicators with type 2 diabetes mellitus in elderly adults in northern Iran.Methods
Participants aged 60 years and older were included, comprising 300 individuals with diabetes and 600 controls for comparative analysis, matched by age and sex. Demographic characteristics, physical activity, anthropometric measures, fasting blood sugar (FBS), and lipid profile were assessed. VAT and other body fat parameters were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Statistical analyses including t-tests, Pearson correlation, and ROC curve analysis were performed.Results
The diabetic group had a significantly higher VAT mass (954.54±319.82 vs. 831.95±323.20, p <0.001) and volume (1031.92±345.79 vs. 899.38±349.43, p <0.001) than controls, while total body fat mass and percentage were not significantly different in between groups (p = 0.052, 0.878; respectively). FBS showed positive correlation with VAT metrics (r = 0.127, p < 0.001). VAT mass and volume yielded the highest AUCs (0.605, 95% CI: 0.567-0.644, p < 0.001) for diabetes discrimination.Conclusion
Our findings support the significant association of VAT and diabetes in older adults, in contrast to general fat measures. However, discriminatory power of VAT remained poor to inconclusive in our study, especially in older women. Further analysis is needed to clarify the clinical utility of VAT in screening and prevention.
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BibTeX
@article{moslemi2026relationship,
title = {{Relationship between visceral fat and diabetes mellitus in the elderly: A cross-sectional study.}},
author = {Mohammad Moslemi and Marjan Mouodi and Seyed Reza Hosseini and Reza Ghadimi and Nasim Hosseinzadeh and Ali Bijani},
journal = {Caspian journal of internal medicine},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.22088/cjim.17.3.659},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42924354},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Relationship between visceral fat and diabetes mellitus in the elderly: A cross-sectional study.
AU - Mohammad Moslemi
AU - Marjan Mouodi
AU - Seyed Reza Hosseini
AU - Reza Ghadimi
AU - Nasim Hosseinzadeh
AU - Ali Bijani
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Caspian journal of internal medicine
DO - 10.22088/cjim.17.3.659
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42924354
AB - Background Diabetes mellitus and obesity are major public health concerns in older adults, and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is suggested to play a critical role in the metabolic dysfunction observed in type 2 diabetes. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between VAT and other obesity-related indicators with type 2 diabetes mellitus in elderly adults in northern Iran.Methods Participants aged 60 years and older were included, comprising 300 individuals with diabetes and 600 controls for comparative analysis, matched by age and sex. Demographic characteristics, physical activity, anthropometric measures, fasting blood sugar (FBS), and lipid profile were assessed. VAT and other body fat parameters were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Statistical analyses including t-tests, Pearson correlation, and ROC curve analysis were performed.Results The diabetic group had a significantly higher VAT mass (954.54±319.82 vs. 831.95±323.20, p <0.001) and volume (1031.92±345.79 vs. 899.38±349.43, p <0.001) than controls, while total body fat mass and percentage were not significantly different in between groups (p = 0.052, 0.878; respectively). FBS showed positive correlation with VAT metrics (r = 0.127, p < 0.001). VAT mass and volume yielded the highest AUCs (0.605, 95% CI: 0.567-0.644, p < 0.001) for diabetes discrimination.Conclusion Our findings support the significant association of VAT and diabetes in older adults, in contrast to general fat measures. However, discriminatory power of VAT remained poor to inconclusive in our study, especially in older women. Further analysis is needed to clarify the clinical utility of VAT in screening and prevention.
SN - 2008-6164
SN - 2008-6172
ER -