Fatty Liver as a Potential Surrogate for Waist Circumference in the Diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome: A Population-Based Study among Chinese Adults

Table 1

Basic characteristics of the study population, grouped by WC and NAFLD.

	Normal WC		Abnormal WC
	Without NAFLD (1)	With NAFLD (2)	Without NAFLD (3)	With NAFLD (4)
	Sex (women), n (%)	3014 (58.4)	273 (29.0)^ab	1358 (72.9)	1057 (61.1)
Age, yrs	51 (41, 61)	52 (42, 60)^b	60 (51, 68)	57 (49, 64)
Components of MetS
WC, cm	74 (69, 78)	81 (77, 86)^ab	88 (83, 93)	92 (86, 97)
TG, mmol/L	1.1 (0.83, 1.51)	1.73 (1.2, 2.46)^ab	1.38 (1.02, 1.94)	1.89 (1.4, 2.67)
HDL, mmol/L	1.47 (1.27, 1.69)	1.3 (1.11, 1.49)^a	1.38 (1.18, 1.59)	1.28 (1.12, 1.47)
SBP, mmHg	124 (112, 139)	130 (118, 146)^ab	137 (123, 152)	140 (126, 155)
DBP, mmHg	76 (68, 84)	81 (73, 89)^a	81 (73, 89)	85 (77, 93)
FPG, mmol/L	5.2 (4.86, 5.63)	5.34 (4.92, 5.95)^a	5.37 (4.94, 5.96)	5.59 (5.10, 6.46)
Insulin resistance
Insulin, pmol/L	28 (20.2, 38.8)	35.75 (25.3, 50.95)^a	36.75 (26.5, 51)	48 (35, 67.6)
HOMA-IR	0.95 (0.67, 1.32)	1.29 (0.86, 1.79)^a	1.29 (0.91, 1.82)	1.83 (1.25, 2.65)
MetS z-score (4 factors)	−2.44 (−3.67, −1.03)	−0.80 (−2.06, 0.83)^ab	−0.88 (−2.27, 0.73)	0.48 (−0.99, 2.39)
Measures of liver function
AST, U/L	22 (19, 27)	24 (20, 30)^a	23 (20, 28)	25 (21, 31)
ALT, U/L	16 (12, 22)	22 (16, 32)^ab	17 (13, 23)	23 (17, 34)
Living area, %
Rural	58.50	41.10^ab	63.40	59.10
Urban	41.50	58.90	36.60	40.90
Occupational position, %
Manual	50.60	37.10^ab	63.00	54.20
Nonmanual	36.50	47.70	26.00	33.10
Self-employed	12.90	15.20	11.00	12.70
Current smoking status, %	20.80	31.40^b	16.20	21.40

Data were shown as median (interquartile range) or percentages (%). WC: waist circumference; MetS z-score (4 factors) includes BG, TG, HDL, and BP z-scores; abdominal WC: WC ≥ 90 cm for males and WC ≥ 80 cm for females; normal WC: <90 cm for males and <80 cm for females. Data were analyzed by adjusting for age and sex. value of <0.05 normal WC with NAFLD (2) compared with normal WC without NAFLD (1). value of <0.05 normal WC with NAFLD (2) compared with abnormal WC without NAFLD (3).