• José Pedro Rodrigues Ravani, Bruna Carvalho Sbaffi, Aline Cardozo Monteiro, Karina Martins Costa Carrocino, Leonice Aparecida Doimo, and Fabrícia Geralda Ferreira.
• Postgraduate Program in Human Operational Performance, Air Force University, Rio de Janeiro 21740-002, Brazil.
• Mil Med. 2023 Jul 22; 188 (7-8): e2003e2009e2003-e2009.

IntroductionVisceral adipose tissue (VAT) is related to cardiometabolic risk. Estimating it using the visceral adiposity index (VAI) could identify this risk in the Brazilian Air Force (BAF) aviator population. The aim here is to verify the predictive capacity of the VAI for identifying visceral fat areas compared to traditional obesity indicators in BAF pilots.Materials And MethodsForty male BAF pilots were recruited. The study was conducted in two stages: the first applied a structured questionnaire to characterize the sample and identify sedentary behavior and the second obtained nutritional, anthropometric, and body composition data, carrying out biochemical and magnetic resonance imaging tests and investigating physical activity level in this stage. The comparison of the predictive capacity of the VAI with that of other adiposity indicators (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference, waist-height ratio, waist-hip ratio, and neck circumference) for detecting increased VAT and the determination of the optimal cutoff points for the different adiposity indicators were carried out using receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curves. An association was verified between the adiposity indicators and excess visceral fat using Poisson regression analysis with robust variance.ResultsThe VAI presented a better predictive capacity for VAT (area under the ROC curve = 0.941), while the BMI did not present diagnostic accuracy (95% CI < 0.5). The strength of the association with high visceral fat was also greater for the VAI than for the other indicators evaluated.ConclusionsThe VAI was shown to be a better predictor of excess VAT in relation to the other indicators studied. As it is a more easy-access and lower-cost technique than resonance, it enables greater applicability in tracing and monitoring the visceral obesity of a large contingent of military personnel.© The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2022. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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