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. 2021 May 17;21:223. doi: 10.1186/s12876-021-01809-2

Table 2.

Characteristics of study participants with and without NAFLD

Past Current NAFLD+
Past versus current
NAFLD–
(n = 3487)
NAFLD+
(n = 792)
p value NAFLD–
(n = 6506)
NAFLD+
(n = 2412)
p value p value
Men
Age (years) 47.0 (16.0) 46.0 (15.0) 0.005 48.0 (17.0) 49.0 (14.0) 0.007 < 0.001
Body mass index (kg/m2) 22.4 (3.3) 25.0 (3.4) < 0.001 22.3 (3.4) 25.3 (4.1) < 0.001 0.140
Obesity 13.6 (474) 50.0 (396) < 0.001 13.3 (863) 50.8 (1224) < 0.001 0.716
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) 119.5 (22.0) 125.5 (21.5) < 0.001 119.0 (19.5) 124.5 (17.5) < 0.001 < 0.001
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) 75.0 (14.5) 79.0 (15.0) < 0.001 73.5 (15.5) 78.0 (14.0) < 0.001 < 0.001
Hypertension 1.2 (41) 0.9 (7) 0.468 0.8 (54) 1.2 (28) 0.155 0.502
Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/L) 5.1 (0.7) 5.4 (0.9)  < 0.001 5.5 (0.6) 5.8 (0.8) < 0.001 < 0.001
Hyperglycemia 18.7 (647) 34.5 (272) < 0.001 36.6 (2382) 57.1 (1377) < 0.001 < 0.001
Triglycerides (mmol/L) 1.3 (0.9) 1.9 (1.2) < 0.001 0.8 (0.6) 1.2 (0.8) < 0.001 < 0.001
Hypertriglyceridemia 28.2 (982) 56.8 (450) < 0.001 8.0 (521) 23.6 (570) < 0.001 < 0.001
High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mmol/L) 1.2 (0.4) 1.0 (0.3) < 0.001 1.6 (0.5) 1.3 (0.4) < 0.001 < 0.001
Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels 30.3 (1048) 57.9 (457) < 0.001 4.4 (284) 14.7 (354) < 0.001 < 0.001
Aspartate aminotransferase (IU/L) 20.0 (5.0) 23.0 (7.0) < 0.001 16.0 (7.0) 19.0 (11.0) < 0.001 < 0.001
Alanine aminotransferase (IU/L) 16.0 (10.0) 27.0 (20.8) < 0.001 17.0 (9.0) 27.0 (21.0) < 0.001 0.316
Gamma-glutamyltransferase (IU/L) 27.0 (32.0) 39.0 (39.0) < 0.001 20.0 (17.0) 26.0 (19.0) < 0.001 < 0.001
Smoking status
 Never smoker 21.0 (717) 24.4 (188) 0.042 36.0 (2310) 40.3 (959) < 0.001 < 0.001
 Ex-smoker 24.4 (835) 30.2 (233) 0.001 33.7 (2159) 32.9 (782) 0.491 0.163
 Current smoker 54.6 (1866) 45.5 (351) < 0.001 30.4 (1.947) 26.8 (638) 0.001 < 0.001
 Habit of exercise 18.6 (649) 15.4 (122) 0.031 22.7 (1462) 13.9 (330) < 0.001 0.287
 Alcohol consumption, g/week 110.0 (208.0) 36.0 (110.0) < 0.001 54.0 (179.0) 1.0 (54.0) < 0.001 < 0.001
 NAFLD Fibrosis Score − 2.3 (1.1) − 2.6 (1.1) < 0.001 − 2.6 (1.1) − 2.6 (1.1) 0.052 < 0.001
 Fib4 index 1.1 (0.5) 0.9 (0.4) < 0.001 0.9 (0.5) 0.8 (0.4) < 0.001 0.035
Past Current NAFLD+
Past versus current
NAFLD–
(n = 2303)
NAFLD+
(n = 199)
p value NAFLD−
(n = 6630)
NAFLD+
(n = 691)
p value p value
Women
Age (years) 45.0 (15.0) 52.0 (12.0) < 0.001 46.0 (14.0) 53.0 (12.0) < 0.001 0.696
Body mass index (kg/m2) 21.0 (3.5) 25.0 (4.4) < 0.001 20.4 (3.4) 25.1 (5.0) < 0.001 0.610
Obesity 8.5 (195) 48.7 (97) < 0.001 6.6 (434) 48.3 (334) < 0.001 0.919
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) 110.5 (21.5) 126.5 (26.3) < 0.001 109.0 (19.5) 124.0 (20.0) < 0.001 < 0.001
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) 69.0 (13.0) 79.0 (15.8) < 0.001 65.5 (14.0) 74.0 (15.0) < 0.001 < 0.001
Hypertension 0.9 (20) 1.5 (20) < 0.001 0.4 (27) 1.0 (7) 0.049 0.573
Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/L) 4.8 (0.7) 5.3 (0.9) < 0.001 5.2 (0.5) 5.6 (0.7) < 0.001 0.495
Hyperglycemia 7.7 (177) 30.3 (60) < 0.001 13.2 (874) 44.7 (309) < 0.001 < 0.001
Triglycerides (mmol/L) 0.9 (0.5) 1.4 (0.8) < 0.001 0.5 (0.4) 1.0 (0.6) < 0.001 < 0.001
Hypertriglyceridemia 7.6 (175) 29.8 (59) < 0.001 1.3 (86) 12.0 (83) < 0.001 < 0.001
High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mmol/L) 1.4 (0.5) 1.2 (0.4) < 0.001 1.9 (0.6) 1.5 (0.5) < 0.001 < 0.001
Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels 35.0 (799) 64.1 (127) < 0.001 3.8 (251) 26.8 (185) < 0.001 < 0.001
Aspartate aminotransferase (IU/L) 18.0 (4.0) 20.0 (5.0) < 0.001 14.0 (6.0) 17.0 (9.0) < 0.001 0.009
Alanine aminotransferase (IU/L) 11.0 (5.0) 19.0 (14.0) < 0.001 12.0 (6.0) 19.0 (13.0) < 0.001 0.367
Gamma-glutamyltransferase (IU/L) 11.0 (8.0) 19.0 (20.5) < 0.001 13.0 (6.0) 17.0 (11.0) < 0.001 0.006
Smoking status
 Never smoker 84.5 (1899) 90.9 (180) 0.010 85.9 (5663) 85.0 (585) 0.533 0.027
 Ex-smoker 5.1 (115) 0.5 (1) < 0.001 8.8 (580) 9.2 (53) 0.754 < 0.001
 Current smoker 10.4 (234) 8.6 (17) 0.407 5.3 (349) 5.8 (40) 0.569 0.175
 Habit of exercise 18.8 (432) 13.6 (27) 0.060 16.2 (1061) 14.8 (100) 0.345 0.664
 Alcohol consumption, g/week 0.0 (36.0) 0.0 (0.0) 0.002 1.0 (12.0) 0.0 (1.0) < 0.001 0.836
 NAFLD fibrosis score − 2.2 (1.0) − 2.2 (1.1) 0.865 − 2.7 (1.0) − 2.6 (1.1) < 0.001 0.239
Fib4 index 1.1 (0.4) 1.0 (0.4) 0.009 0.8 (0.5) 0.8 (0.4) 0.070 0.008

Data are expressed as median (IQR) or % (number) of subjects

p values by one-way analysis of variance for continuous variables and chi-squared test for categorical variables

BMI body mass index, NAFLD non-alcoholic fatty liver disease