by Xia Huang, Haofei Hu, Lishu He, Zhichao Zhang, Xue Zhang, Hao Yuan, Xiaofang He, Lirong Tu, Feiyuan Liu, Xiuqin Li, Heping Zhang, Yongcheng He Background While previous studies have largely overlooked the potential correlation between the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and microalbuminuria in Chinese adults, this study aims to rigorously investigate this relationship. Specifically, we examined the potential nonlinear association between WHtR and the presence of microalbuminuria.
Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 33,685 participants from eight regions across China. Microalbuminuria was defined as a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) > 30 mg/g.
The relationship between WHtR and microalbuminuria was assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. We further explored potential nonlinear associations using Generalized Additive Models (GAM) and evaluated threshold effects to identify critical inflection points.
Subgroup analyses were performed to validate the robustness of our findings. Results The cohort (N = 33,685) had a mean age of 57.6 ± 9.27 years and was predominantly females (22,516; 66.8%).
The mean WHtR was 0.537 ± 0.06.
PLOS ONE (Medicine) published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 19 May 2026.
The item focuses on U-shaped association between waist-to-height ratio and microalbuminuria: A cross-sectional analysis conducted within the Chinese demographic.
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