TABLE 1.
Baseline Characteristics of Our Cohort of Patients With Cirrhosis at the Time of Cohort Inception in 2012, Presented According to AUDIT‐C Score
| Total | No Alcohol Use† | Low‐Level Alcohol Use† | Unhealthy Alcohol Use† | P Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 44,349 | n = 28,239 (63.7%) | n = 8,539 (19.3%) | n = 7,571 (17.1%) | ||
| Age (mean, SD) | 62.1, 8.0 | 62.6, 8.0 | 62.0, 8.0 | 60.3, 7.9 | <0.001 |
| Male (n, %) | 43,173, 97.3 | 27,430, 97.1 | 8,353, 97.8 | 7,390, 97.6 | <0.001 |
| Race/ethnicity (n, %) | <0.001 | ||||
| White, non‐Hispanic | 29,077, 65.6 | 18,423, 65.2 | 5,434, 63.6 | 5,220, 68.9 | |
| Black, non‐Hispanic | 8,045, 18.1 | 5,102, 18.1 | 1,735, 20.3 | 1,208, 16.0 | |
| Hispanic | 3,820, 8.6 | 2,555, 9.0 | 706, 8.3 | 559, 7.4 | |
| Other | 907, 2.0 | 576, 2.0 | 177, 2.1 | 154, 2.0 | |
| Declined/missing | 2,500, 5.6 | 1,583, 5.6 | 487, 5.7 | 430, 5.7 | |
| BMI (kg/m2) (mean, SD) | <0.001 | ||||
| ≤25.1 | 11,003, 24.9 | 6,265, 22.3 | 2,132, 25.1 | 2,606, 34.6 | |
| 25.1 to ≤28.7 | 11,074, 25.1 | 6,989, 24.9 | 2,083, 24.5 | 2,002, 26.6 | |
| 28.7 to ≤33.0 | 11,054, 25.0 | 7,273, 25.9 | 2,119, 24.9 | 1,662, 22.1 | |
| >33.0 | 11,029, 25.0 | 7,595, 27.0 | 2,174, 25.6 | 1,260, 16.7 | |
| Cirrhosis etiology (n, %) | <0.001 | ||||
| ALD | 14,385, 32.4 | 7,491, 26.5 | 2,830, 33.1 | 4,064, 53.7 | |
| HCV | 23,324, 52.6 | 17,156, 64.9 | 4,734, 59.3 | 3,465, 48.6 | |
| HCV‐active ‡ | 21,329, 48.1 | 15,654, 55.4 | 4,388, 51.4 | 3,300, 43.6 | |
| HCV‐cured ‡ | 2,013, 4.5 | 1,502, 9.5 | 346, 7.9 | 165, 5.0 | |
| NAFLD | 6,622, 14.9 | 5,094, 18.0 | 1,321, 15.5 | 207, 2.7 | |
| MELD (mean, SD) | 10.4, 4.6 | 10.5, 4.5 | 10.1, 4.5 | 10.6, 4.9 | <0.001 |
| FIB‐4 score (mean, SD) | 6.3, 28.7 | 6.0, 25.7 | 5.9, 25.8 | 7.8, 40.2 | <0.001 |
| FIB‐4 score (median, IQR) | 3.6 (2.0,6.6) | 3.6 (2.0,6.4) | 3.4 (1.9,6.3) | 4.2 (2.3,7.8) | <0.001 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index (n, %) | <0.001 | ||||
| 0 | 6,838, 15.4 | 3,311, 11.7 | 1,498, 17.5 | 2,029, 26.8 | |
| 1 | 10,388, 23.4 | 6,313, 22.4 | 2,113, 24.7 | 1,962, 25.9 | |
| 2 | 7,253, 16.4 | 4,628, 16.4 | 1,476, 17.3 | 1,149, 15.2 | |
| >2 | 19,870, 44.8 | 13,987, 49.5 | 3,452, 40.4 | 2,431, 32.1 | |
| Decompensated cirrhosis (n, %) | 11,047, 24.9 | 7,662, 27.1 | 1,744, 20.4 | 1,641, 21.7 | <0.001 |
| Ascites | 7,349, 16.6 | 5,067, 17.9 | 1,194, 14.0 | 1,088, 14.4 | <0.001 |
| Encephalopathy | 3,681, 8.3 | 2,746, 9.7 | 469, 5.5 | 466, 6.2 | <0.001 |
| Bleeding gastroesophageal varices | 3,319, 7.5 | 2,321, 8.2 | 506, 5.9 | 492, 6.5 | <0.001 |
| HCC (n, %) | 2,274, 5.1 | 1,744, 6.2 | 328, 3.8 | 202, 2.7 | <0.001 |
| Diabetes (n, %) | 19,060, 43.0 | 13,478, 47.7 | 3,560, 41.7 | 2,022, 26.7 | <0.001 |
| Depression (n, %) | 21,910, 49.4 | 14,230, 50.4 | 3,930, 46.0 | 3,750, 49.5 | <0.001 |
| Anxiety (n, %) | 13,514, 30.5 | 8,871, 31.4 | 2,320, 27.2 | 2,323, 30.7 | <0.001 |
| PTSD (n, %) | 10,950, 24.7 | 7,180, 25.4 | 1,924, 22.5 | 1,846, 24.4 | <0.001 |
| Nonalcohol substance use disorder (n, %) | 13,824, 31.2 | 8,364, 29.6 | 2,531, 29.6 | 2,929, 38.7 | <0.001 |
| AUDIT‐C score (mean, SD) | 1.6, 2.9 | 0.0, 0.0 | 1.7, 0.8 | 7.2, 2.8 | <0.001 |
*
Baseline severity of alcohol use defined by AUDIT‐C score recorded within 1 year of entry into the cohort: nondrinking: AUDIT‐C score 0; low‐level drinking: AUDIT‐C score 1‐3 in men, 1‐2 in women; and unhealthy drinking: AUDIT‐C score 4‐12 in men, 3‐12 in women.
†
Patients were categorized as HCV‐cured if their HCV was eradicated before entry into the cohort in 2012; otherwise they were categorized as HCV‐active if they still had a positive HCV‐RNA viral load.
Abbreviations: IQR, interquartile range; MELD, Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease; and PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder.