Association between total body muscle-fat ratio and risk of thyroid disorders: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background Thyroid disorders(TD) poses a significant health threat to Americans due to its high incidence rate. Obesity, a common factor linked to thyroid disorders, has garnered increasing attention. While Body mass index (BMI) is a widely used obesity index, it fails to account for the distribution of muscle and fat in the body. Recently, tMFR has emerged as a crucial obesity index in clinical research, warranting further investigation into its association with TD. Objective Exploring the association between tMFR and thyroid disorders. Method A comprehensive survey and data analysis were conducted using the NHANES database to investigate the relationship between tMFR and the risk of TD. This study utilized multiple logistic regression, smooth curve fitting, and subgroup analysis across four periods from 2011 to 2018. Result A total of 11,912 subjects were included in the study, showing a prevalence of 7.14% for TD. The research indicated that tMFR had an inverse correlation with the risk of TD in a comprehensive model (OR = 0.90, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.00). When tMFR was divided into quartiles (Q1-Q4), individuals in the highest quartile had a 28% lower risk of TD than those in Q1 (OR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.91). Analysis using smoothed curve fitting demonstrated a nonlinear relationship between tMFR and TD risk, with the inflection point for tMFR saturation effect identified as 1.5. Subgroup analysis further confirmed the strong association between tMFR and TD risk. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that tMFR exhibited superior predictive ability for TD relative to BMI. Conclusion The study found a negative association between tMFR and the risk of TD; however, additional prospective studies are required to validate these findings.

Keywords

• TD
• tMFR
• Obesity index
• Cross-sectional study
• NHANES