TABLE 1.
Characteristics of the study participants according to tertiles of liver signal intensity (n = 354)
| Tertile of liver signal intensity | ||||
| Participant characteristics | 1 (n = 118) | 2 (n = 118) | 3 (n = 118) | P-trend1 |
| Liver signal intensity | 2.7 (2.5, 2.8)2 | 3.0 (2.9, 3.1) | 3.4 (3.3, 3.6) | |
| Fatty liver disease [n (%)]3 | 0 (0.0) | 53 (44.9) | 118 (100.0) | <0.001 |
| Age (y) | 66.1 (60.3, 72.2) | 68.2 (61.3, 72.6) | 68.4 (62.3, 72.4) | 0.445 |
| Participants (M) [n (%)] | 71 (60.2) | 66 (55.9) | 65 (55.1) | 0.430 |
| Education [n (%)] | ||||
| ≤9 y | 45 (38.1) | 41 (34.8) | 46 (39.0) | 0.893 |
| 10 y | 35 (29.7) | 44 (37.3) | 39 (33.1) | 0.581 |
| ≥11 y | 38 (32.2) | 33 (28.0) | 33 (28.0) | 0.475 |
| Smoking status [n (%)] | ||||
| Never | 60 (50.9) | 57 (48.3) | 50 (42.4) | 0.192 |
| Former | 51 (43.2) | 49 (41.5) | 60 (50.9) | 0.239 |
| Current | 7 (5.9) | 12 (10.2) | 8 (6.8) | 0.806 |
| Pack-years of smoking | 0.0 (0.0, 15.8) | 1.6 (0.0, 19.0) | 5.5 (0.0, 22.0) | 0.149 |
| Physical activity (metabolic equivalent task hours/wk) | 99.0 (63.3, 143.6) | 94.6 (62.2, 129.0) | 93.5 (67.5, 140.7) | 0.540 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 25.6 (23.2, 28.1) | 25.9 (24.0, 28.5) | 29.2 (26.9, 31.1) | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 92.5 (84.3, 102.0) | 95.8 (88.5, 102.2) | 102.7 (95.0, 109.1) | <0.001 |
| Waist-to-height ratio | 0.54 (0.50, 0.59) | 0.56 (0.52, 0.59) | 0.61 (0.56, 0.65) | <0.001 |
| Menopause (F only) [n (%)] | 47 (100.0) | 48 (92.3) | 50 (94.3) | 0.193 |
| Alanine aminotransferase (U/L) | 21 (16, 26) | 20 (17, 26) | 29 (21, 37) | <0.001 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.1 (0.8, 1.5) | 1.2 (0.9, 1.5) | 1.4 (1.1, 2.0) | <0.001 |
| Type 2 diabetes [n (%)]4 | 11 (9.3) | 13 (11.0) | 31 (26.3) | <0.001 |
| Food and food group intakes (g · 1000 kcal−1 · d−1) | ||||
| Hypothesis-driven dietary pattern | ||||
| Alcohol | 3.2 (1.2, 7.2) | 4.0 (1.1, 6.8) | 4.0 (1.1, 10.0) | 0.002 |
| Soft drinks | 4.2 (2.9, 8.5) | 4.8 (2.8, 9.6) | 3.8 (2.8, 7.4) | 0.741 |
| Meat | 48.7 (36.9, 68.5) | 48.7 (32.3, 66.9) | 54.1 (41.7, 68.8) | 0.468 |
| Coffee | 165.6 (98.8, 268.4) | 180.4 (135.1, 259.9) | 167.2 (109.7, 243.2) | 0.323 |
| Tea | 107.2 (12.4, 207.4) | 69.3 (11.8, 185.9) | 40.1 (8.0, 123.6) | <0.001 |
| Exploratory dietary pattern5 | ||||
| Fruit and herbal tea | 7.8 (1.1, 81.7) | 9.4 (1.0, 97.2) | 4.3 (0.9, 28.5) | 0.061 |
| Green and black tea | 15.3 (3.5, 123.7) | 16.8 (3.4, 113.5) | 10.1 (3.0, 59.8) | 0.001 |
| Sugar and confectionary | 21.8 (14.3, 30.3) | 25.0 (18.8, 32.2) | 20.3 (13.0, 28.7) | 0.261 |
| Other fats | 0.9 (0.7, 1.2) | 0.9 (0.7, 1.0) | 0.9 (0.7, 1.2) | 0.471 |
| Bread | 44.4 (34.6, 60.2) | 39.4 (32.0, 53.4) | 41.9 (32.9, 53.5) | 0.478 |
| Breakfast cereals | 0.9 (0.6, 2.5) | 0.9 (0.6, 2.3) | 0.7 (0.6, 1.5) | 0.333 |
| Cheese | 15.4 (11.6, 21.3) | 16.6 (12.8, 20.6) | 14.2 (11.1, 18.1) | 0.082 |
| Soups | 14.7 (11.7, 21.9) | 15.3 (11.2, 20.3) | 18.4 (12.6, 27.1) | 0.003 |
| Beer | 8.4 (0.0, 32.4) | 5.0 (2.1, 38.3) | 10.8 (2.4, 62.5) | 0.009 |
| Wine | 13.4 (5.7, 43.0) | 19.9 (5.2, 47.4) | 15.8 (4.4, 55.2) | 0.066 |
| Poultry | 6.1 (2.8, 8.6) | 5.1 (2.6, 8.5) | 6.3 (3.8, 9.5) | 0.108 |
| Juices | 26.1 (11.8, 83.8) | 29.7 (11.1, 81.5) | 23.3 (12.3, 76.0) | 0.383 |
| Eggs | 5.7 (3.1, 9.2) | 6.6 (3.2, 9.2) | 7.7 (4.4, 10.3) | 0.375 |
| Hypothesis-driven dietary pattern score | −0.63 (−1.33, 0.82) | −0.32 (−1.21, 0.68) | 0.24 (−0.52, 1.65) | <0.001 |
| Exploratory dietary pattern score | −0.28 (−0.95, 0.19) | −0.20 (−0.91, 0.45) | 0.39 (−0.39, 1.55) | <0.001 |
P-trend values across categories of liver signal intensity were based on the Cochran-Armitage test for categorical variables and linear regression analysis for continuous variables with the median liver signal intensity variable within tertiles.
Median; IQR in parentheses (all such values).
Liver signal intensity ≥3.0.
Defined by using baseline and follow-up information as self-reported type 2 diabetes diagnosed by a physician, reference to the respective medication used, glycated hemoglobin ≥6.5%, or a fasting blood glucose concentration ≥126 mg/dL.
Variable importance in the projection statistic (40) was used to assess the importance of a food group to the partial least-squares model. Food groups with variable importance in the projection statistic ≤1.0 in the partial least-squares model were excluded from the table.