Letter to the editor regarding “The ZJU index is a powerful index for identifying NAFLD in the general Chinese population”

Abstract

Dear editor, I read with interest the study of Li et al. entitled “The ZJU index is a powerful index for identifying NAFLD in the general Chinese populations”. The authors showed promising AUROC than other currently used NAFLD indices. However, there is a critical mistake in the formula that authors used. In the article, the authors showed visceral adiposity index (VAI) = [WC/39.68 + (1.88 × BMI)] × (TG/1.03) × (1 .31/HDL) for males and [WC/36.58 + (1.89 × BMI)] × (TG/ 0.81) × (1.52/HDL) for females. However, VAI should be as follows: VAI = [WC/(39.68 + (1.88 × BMI))] × (TG/1.03) × (1.31/ HDL) for males and [WC/(36.58 + (1.89 × BMI))] × (TG/0 .81) × (1.52/HDL) for females [1]. This should be clarified clearly; otherwise, it will make following readers wrong analyses which hampered the future science development. Technically, I have another question for the authors that developed the ZJU index [2]. How did they choose the name “ZJU index”? I try to help the readers like me to raise the question. Other NAFLD indices are based on abbreviation, such as fatty liver index (FLI) and hepatic steatosis index (HSI). I hope the authors will be able to make correction of the formula of VAI.