TABLE 3.
Associations between quartiles of MEDAS‐14 index and incident severe non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease.
| Total n | Events | Quartile 1 (lest healthy) | Quartile 2 | Quartile 3 | Quartile 4 (healthiest) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95% CI | p‐Value | 95% CI | p‐Value | 95% CI | p‐Value | ||||
| Age, years | |||||||||
| <60 | 95 918 | 768 | 1.00 (Ref.) | 1.03 (0.86, 1.24) | .732 | 0.79 (0.66, 0.95) | .012 | 0.69 (0.52, 0.92) | .012 |
| ≥60 | 67 081 | 602 | 1.00 (Ref.) | 1.10 (0.89, 1.36) | .374 | 0.84 (0.69, 1.03) | .103 | 0.85 (0.64, 1.15) | .292 |
| p interaction | .479 | .315 | .130 | ||||||
| Sex | |||||||||
| Women | 89 555 | 709 | 1.00 (Ref.) | 1.14 (0.94, 1.39) | .188 | 0.94 (0.78, 1.13) | .533 | 0.86 (0.66, 1.14) | .304 |
| Men | 73 444 | 661 | 1.00 (Ref.) | 0.98 (0.80, 1.19) | .806 | 0.69 (0.57, 0.84) | <.001 | 0.68 (0.50, 0.93) | .015 |
| p interaction | .398 | .104 | .625 | ||||||
| Alcohol | |||||||||
| Never/special occ | 25 619 | 368 | 1.00 (Ref.) | 0.98 (0.75, 1.27) | .857 | 0.77 (0.59, 1.01) | .064 | 1.02 (0.66, 1.56) | .941 |
| Regular drinking | 137 380 | 1002 | 1.00 (Ref.) | 1.08 (0.92, 1.28) | .330 | 0.82 (0.70, 0.96) | .012 | 0.72 (0.56, 0.90) | .004 |
| p interaction | .653 | .998 | .070 | ||||||
| Central obesity | |||||||||
| No | 114 831 | 484 | 1.00 (Ref.) | 0.99 (0.77, 1.26) | .914 | 0.80 (0.64, 1.00) | .050 | 0.84 (0.62, 1.14) | .263 |
| Yes | 48 168 | 886 | 1.00 (Ref.) | 1.10 (0.92, 1.30) | .293 | 0.83 (0.70, 0.98) | .027 | 0.71 (0.54, 0.94) | .018 |
| p interaction | .297 | .321 | .970 | ||||||
Note: Associations between severe non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease and standardized quartiles of the scores were investigated using Cox proportional hazard models. Individuals in the least healthy quartile for each score/index were used as the referent. All analyses were performed using a 2‐year landmark analysis, excluding participants who experienced events within the first 2 years of follow‐up and those with liver disease or alcohol/drug use disorder at baseline. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, deprivation, ethnicity, the components of the metabolic syndrome (central obesity, high glycaemia/diabetes, high blood pressure/hypertension, low HDL and high triglyceride), smoking and physical activity when these were not included as a subgroup. A value of p < .05 was considered statistically significant.
Abbreviations: HDI, healthy diet indicator; MEDAS‐14, Mediterranean Diet Adherence; MDS, Mediterranean diet score; MIND, Mediterranean‐DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay; Occ, occasions; RFS, recommended food score.