Relationship of Helicobacter pylori Infection with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Meta-Analysis

Table 3

Meta-analysis regarding the association of H. pylori infection with NAFLD in studies adjusted for confounders.

Groups				No. studies	aOR (95% CI)			Heterogeneity		interation
								I^2 (%)	value
Study design										<0.001
Cross-sectional				15	1.20 (1.05–1.38; )			89.8%	<0.001
Case-control				1	3.17 (1.83–5.50; )			—	—
Region										0.05
Asia				13	1.30 (1.10–1.53; )			91.5%	<0.001
Non-Asia				3	1.05 (0.91–1.21; )			18.00%	0.295
Study quality										<0.001
Moderate-quality				1	2.21 (1.18–4.12; )			—	—
High-quality				15	1.23 (1.07–1.42; )			90.4%	<0.001
Diagnostic methods of H. pylori										0.01
UBT				8	1.21 (1.05–1.40; )			78.1%	<0.001
Serology				6	1.38 (1.06–1.73; )			84.7%	<0.001
RUT				1	0.96 (0.82–1.13; )			—	—
Diagnostic methods of NAFLD										<0.001
US				12	1.19 (1.02–1.39; )			91.8%	<0.001
Liver biopsy				2	3.11 (1.93–5.01; )			0.00%	0.885
Surrogate markers of NAFLD				1	1.13 (0.97–1.31; )			—	—
Sample size										0.25
>5000				5	1.15 (0.87–1.50; )			96.7%	<0.001
<5000				11	1.29 (1.12–1.48; )			63.4%	0.002
Confounders adjusted										0.05
Full adjusted				10	1.16 (1.04–1.29; )			61.5%	0.005
No full adjusted				6	1.46 (1.08–1.98; )			91.6%	<0.001
Publication form										0.35
Full text				15	1.25 (1.08–1.45; )			90.6%	<0.001
Abstract				1	1.18 (0.69–2.03; )			—	—

Surrogate markers of NAFLD include FLI > 60, HSI > 36, or NAFLD-LFS > −0.640. Full adjusted: at least age, gender, BMI, and/or smoking, as well as three additional risk factors were adjusted. BMI: basal metabolic index, CI: confidence intervals, FLI: fatty liver index, HSI: hepatic steatosis index, NAFLD: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD-LFS: NAFLD-liver fat score, aOR: adjusted odds ratio, RUT: rapid urease test, UBT: urea breath test, and US: ultrasonography.