Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics of Adults With Histologically Defined NAFLD and Matched Population Comparators
| Characteristic | Population Comparators N = 39,907 |
All NAFLD N = 8,892 |
Simple Steatosis N = 5,939 |
NASH Without Fibrosis N = 1,050 |
Noncirrhotic Fibrosis N = 1,400 |
Cirrhosis N = 503 |
P Value3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male, % | 56.7 | 58.3 | 59.4 | 54.0 | 57.4 | 57.3 | 0.02 |
| Age at the index date, years (SD) | 49.9 (14.4) | 50.6 (14.5) | 49.3 (14.4) | 51.1 (14.8) | 53.3 (14.0) | 57.9 (12.1) | <0.001 |
| Years of follow-up (IQR) | 15.5 (8.6) | 13.8 (8.5) | 15.3 (8.5) | 12.1 (7.9) | 10.3 (7.4) | 8.9 (7.3) | <0.001 |
| Start of follow-up, % | 0.10 | ||||||
| 1966–1989 | 8,274 (20.7) | 1,784 (20.1) | 1,388 (23.4) | 145 (13.8) | 139 (9.9) | 112 (22.3) | NA |
| 1990–2000 | 18,404 (46.1) | 4,050 (45.6) | 2,933 (49.4) | 439 (41.8) | 463 (33.1) | 215 (42.7) | NA |
| 2001–2010 | 9,449 (23.7) | 2,159 (24.3) | 1,218 (20.5) | 314 (29.9) | 516 (36.9) | 111 (22.1) | NA |
| 2011–2016 | 3,780 (9.5) | 899 (10.1) | 400 (6.7) | 152 (14.5) | 282 (20.1) | 65 (12.9) | NA |
| Nordic country of birth (%) | 36,343 (91.1) | 7,919 (89.1) | 5,328 (89.7) | 920 (87.6) | 1219 (87.1) | 452 (89.9) | <0.001 |
| Highest education level1 (%) | (among n = 31,633) | (among n = 7,108) | (among n = 4,551) | (among n = 905) | (among n = 1,261) | (among n = 391) | <0.001 |
| ≤9 years | 8,625 (27.3) | 2,093 (29.5) | 1,307 (28.7) | 259 (28.6) | 375 (29.7) | 152 (38.9) | NA |
| 10–12 years | 13,394 (42.3) | 3,251 (45.7) | 2,079 (45.7) | 426 (47.1) | 568 (45.0) | 178 (45.5) | NA |
| ≥13 years | 9,228 (29.2) | 1,699 (23.9) | 1,132 (24.9) | 210 (23.2) | 305 (24.2) | 52 (13.3) | NA |
| Unknown | 386 (1.2) | 65 (0.9) | 33 (0.7) | 10 (1.1) | 13 (1.0) | 9 (2.3) | NA |
| Cardiovascular disease (%) | 1,939 (4.9) | 961 (10.8) | 542 (9.1) | 129 (12.3) | 197 (14.1) | 93 (18.5) | <0.001 |
| Dyslipidemia (%) | 1,066 (2.7) | 531 (6.0) | 215 (3.6) | 86 (8.2) | 179 (12.8) | 51 (10.1) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes (%) | 703 (1.7) | 687 (7.7) | 303 (5.1) | 96 (9.1) | 194 (13.9) | 94 (18.7) | <0.001 |
| Hypertension (%) | 1,770 (4.4) | 1,040 (11.7) | 466 (7.9) | 156 (14.9) | 304 (21.7) | 114 (22.7) | <0.001 |
| Obesity (%) | 59 (0.1) | 136 (1.5) | 67 (1.5) | 19 (1.8) | 31 (2.2) | 19 (3.8) | <0.001 |
| Metabolic syndrome2 (%) | 215 (0.5) | 207 (2.3) | 66 (1.1) | 37 (3.5) | 67 (4.8) | 37 (7.4) | <0.001 |
| Number of hospital encounters in the year prior to the index date (SD) | 0.4 (1.6) | 2.6 (4.0) | 2.3 (3.3) | 3.0 (3.8) | 3.7 (6.4) | 2.8 (3.4) | <0.001 |
| Family history of cancer at age <50 years (%) | 2,284 (5.7) | 511 (5.8) | 328 (5.5) | 78 (7.4) | 84 (6.0) | 21 (4.2) | <0.001 |
All variables reported as mean (SD) or % unless described otherwise. For definitions of the NAFLD histological groups and all covariates, see Supporting Methods and Supporting Table S3.
Education categories based on compulsory school, high school, and college (see Supporting Methods). Education level was recorded beginning in 1990; therefore, data presented are for persons with index dates on or after January 1, 1990.
Metabolic syndrome was defined as ≥3 metabolic risk factors (dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, and/or obesity), as outlined in the Methods section and Supporting Table S3.
P values signify the comparison between all NAFLD patients versus population comparators.
Abbreviations: IQR, interquartile range; NAFLD, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; NASH, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; SD, standard deviation; NA, not applicable.