Table 2.
Baseline characteristics among year 25 CARDIA participants, overall and by NAFLD category.
| Variable | Overall (n = 2726) |
Liver Attenuation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAFLD <51 HU (n = 648) |
No NAFLD ≥51 HU (n = 2078) |
||
| Liver Attenuation (HU), mean ± SD | 55.6 ± 11.6 | 39.7 ± 10.9 | 60.6 ± 5.9 |
| Age (years), mean ± SD | 50.1 ± 3.6 | 50.3 ± 3.6 | 49.9 ± 3.6 |
| Sex, n (%) | |||
| Male | 1163 (42.7) | 359 (55.5) | 804 (38.7) |
| Female | 1562 (57.3) | 288 (44.5) | 1274 (61.3) |
| Race n (%) | |||
| Black | 1325 (48.6) | 303 (46.8) | 1022 (49.2) |
| White | 1401 (51.4) | 345 (53.2) | 1056 (50.8) |
| Education (years), mean ± SD | 15.1 ± 2.6 | 15.1 ± 2.7 | 14.9 ± 2.6 |
| Diet Quality Score (std.), mean ± SD | 5.4 ± 1.0 | 5.4 ± 1.0 | 5.3 ± 0.9 |
| Smoking, n (%) | |||
| Never | 1717 (63.0) | 373 (57.6) | 1344 (64.7) |
| Former | 590 (21.6) | 167 (25.8) | 423 (20.4) |
| Current | 419 (15.4) | 208 (16.7) | 311 (15.0) |
| Alcohol (drinks/week), mean ± SD | 7.4 ± 10.7 | 7.9 ± 11.7 | 7.3 ± 10.4 |
| BMI (kg/m2), mean ± SD | 30.4 ± 7.2 | 35.2 ± 7.3 | 28.9 ± 6.4 |
| Waist Circumference (cm), mean ± SD | 94.7 ± 15.8 | 108.4 ± 14.5 | 90.4 ± 13.6 |
Note: We excluded participants who were heavy drinkers (i.e., those who consumed ≥ 14 drinks/week) along with other factors related to liver disease (see Figure 1). Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; NAFLD, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; HU, Hounsfield Units; std., standardized score; BMI, body mass index.