Table 1.
Characteristics of participantsa
| Overall (n = 405,413) | Participants with baseline MAFLD (n = 150,385) | Participants without baseline MAFLD (n = 255,028) | Pb | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age at recruitment, year | 56.6 (8.1) | 57.4 (7.8) | 56.1 (8.2) | < 0.001 |
| Sex (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| Female | 221,546 (54.6) | 55,022 (36.6) | 166,524 (65.3) | |
| Male | 183,867 (45.4) | 95,363 (63.4) | 88,504 (34.7) | |
| Townsend deprivation index | − 2.2 (− 3.7, 0.5) | − 1.9 (− 3.5, 0.9) | − 2.3 (− 3.7, 0.2) | < 0.001 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 27.4 (4.7) | 31.5 (4.3) | 24.9 (2.8) | < 0.001 |
| Waist circumstances, cm | 90.1 (13.3) | 102.6 (9.7) | 82.7 (8.9) | |
| Education (%) | 0.62 | |||
| College and above | 131,876 (32.9) | 39,984 (27.0) | 91,752 (36.4) | |
| Below college | 269,213 (67.1) | 108,283 (73.0) | 160,624 (63.6) | |
| Ethnicity (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| White | 382,372 (94.8) | 141,719 (94.7) | 240,653 (94.8) | |
| Others | 21,171 (5.2) | 7,883 (5.3) | 13,288 (5.2) | |
| Physical activity (%)b | < 0.001 | |||
| Adequate | 282,805 (69.8) | 95,500 (63.5) | 187,305 (73.4) | |
| Inadequate | 122,608 (30.2) | 54,885 (36.5) | 67,723 (26.6) | |
| Smoking status (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| Previous or current smokers | 181,612 (45.0) | 76,958 (51.5) | 104,654 (41.2) | |
| Never smoked | 221,804 (55.0) | 72,521 (48.5) | 149,283 (58.8) | |
| Alcohol consumption (%)c | < 0.001 | |||
| None to moderate | 80,390 (19.9) | 34,920 (23.3) | 45,470 (17.9) | |
| Heavy | 324,185 (80.1) | 115,107 (76.7) | 209,078 (82.1) | |
| Healthy diet (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| Yes | 276,583 (71.9) | 90,555 (64.2) | 186,028 (76.3) | |
| No | 108,236 (28.1) | 50,485 (35.8) | 57,751 (23.7) | |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index, scoresd | 0.3 (0.9) | 0.3 (0.9) | 0.2 (0.8) | < 0.001 |
| Albumin, g/L | 45.2 (43.5, 46.9) | 45.1 (43.4, 46.8) | 45.3 (43.6, 47.0) | < 0.001 |
| Alkaline phosphatase, U/L | 79.9 (67.0, 95.1) | 84.1 (71.2, 99.5) | 77.4 (64.7, 92.3) | < 0.001 |
| Alanine transaminase, U/L | 19.9 (15.3, 26.7) | 25.4 (19.6, 33.7) | 17.5 (14.0, 22.3) | < 0.001 |
| Aspartate transaminase, U/L | 24.2 (20.9, 28.4) | 25.9 (22.2, 30.7) | 23.3 (20.3, 27.1) | < 0.001 |
| C-reactive protein, mg/L | 1.31 (0.65, 2.71) | 2.11 (1.1, 4.1) | 0.97 (0.5, 1.9) | < 0.001 |
| Gamma-glutamyl transferase, U/L | 25.9 (18.4, 39.4) | 38.2 (27.4, 56.3) | 21.2 (16.3, 29.2) | < 0.001 |
| Total bilirubin, μmol/L | 8.03 (6.4, 10.3) | 8.03 (6.4, 10.3) | 8.0 (6.4, 10.3) | < 0.001 |
| Total protein, g/L | 72.3 (69.7, 75.0) | 72.6 (70.0, 75.2) | 72.09 (69.5, 74.8) | < 0.001 |
BMI body mass index, MAFLD metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease
aMean (SD) values and percentages are reported for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. When variables were not normally distributed, medians with interquartile range are presented
bcompared between individuals with and without MAFLD
cAdequate physical activity was defined as 150 min moderate activity per week, or ≥ 75 min vigorous activity per week, or equivalent combination, or moderate physical activity at least 5 days a week or vigorous activity once a week
dNone to moderate alcohol consumption was defined as 0–14 g/d for women and 0–28 g/d for men according to US dietary guidelines, above which is defined as heavy level
eCharlson Comorbidity Index was constructed based on 17 comorbidities with assigned weights associated with ICD codes from hospital records, ranging from 0 to 16