A Simple Scale That Can Be Used to Screen Visceral Obesity

Abstract

A possible relationship between the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF) and visceral fat thickness (VFT) in 390 participants 60 years and older was investigated. VFT was measured by ultrasonography as the distance between the inner wall of the rectus abdominis and the anterior abdominal aortic wall. The risk of visceral obesity increased with the increase in MNA-SF values independent of age, gender, diabetes mellitus, and alcohol history (odds ratio = 1.534, 95% CI 1.176–2.002, P = .002). The optimal cut-off point of the MNA-SF to predict visceral obesity was measured as 12.5 (area under the curve = 0.617, 95% CI 0.558–0.676). Our findings suggest that the MNA-SF may be useful in visceral obesity screening.