The Burden of NAFLD and Its Characteristics in a Nationwide Population with Type 2 Diabetes

Table 1

Clinical features of patients according to Fatty Liver Index.

	All	Fatty Liver Index
		<30	30–59	≥60
		(15.1%)	(25.2%)	(59.6%)
Male gender	47.6%	41.0%	48.3%	49.0%			—
Age (years)	65 ± 12	66 ± 13	67 ± 11	64 ± 11
Known duration of diabetes (years)	9 ± 9	10 ± 10	9 ± 9	8 ± 9
BMI (body mass index) (Kg/m^2)	30 ± 6	24 ± 2	27 ± 3	33 ± 5
Waist circumference (cm)	103 ± 13	87 ± 7	96 ± 6	110 ± 11
GGT (UI/L)	39 ± 45	19 ± 14	28 ± 26	48 ± 52
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	145 ± 99	88 ± 35	117 ± 50	172 ± 115
Fatty Liver Index	64 ± 27	18 ± 8	46 ± 9	84 ± 12
AST (UI/L)	24 ± 17	21 ± 12	23 ± 17	26 ± 19
AST > 38 UI/L	8.4%	3.6%	5.3%	10.9%
ALT (UI/L)	29 ± 23	22 ± 14	25 ± 21	32 ± 26
ALT > 41 UI/L if male or >31 UI/L if female	20.3%	8.7%	12.8%	26.4%
ALT > 30 UI/L if male or >9 UI/L if female	46.7%	32.0%	37.1%	54.4%
Serum creatinine (mg/dL)	0.95 ± 0.51	0.89 ± 0.50	0.94 ± 0.51	0.97 ± 0.50
eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m^2)	79 ± 22	81 ± 20	78 ± 21	78 ± 22			—
eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m^2	19.7%	15.0%	19%	21.2%
Albuminuria	26.8%	20.2%	23.4%	30.0%
HbA1c (% and mmol/mol)	7.5 (58) ± 1.6	7.3 (56) ± 1.6	7.3 (56) ± 1.5	7.6 (60) ± 1.7	—
HbA1c ≥ 7% (53 mmol/mol)	55.7%	49.0%	50.1%	59.8%	—
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	184 ± 42	178 ± 38	180 ± 40	188 ± 43
HDL-C (mg/dL)	49 ± 14	58 ± 16	51 ± 14	46 ± 13
HDL-C < 40 if male or <50 mg/dL if female	40.4%	21.4%	32.6%	48.5%
LDL-C (mg/dL)	107 ± 36	103 ± 33	106 ± 34	108 ± 37
LDL-C ≥ 100 mg/dL	54.7%	50.1%	53.6%	56.3%
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	138 ± 19	134 ± 20	137 ± 19	139 ± 19
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	79 ± 10	76 ± 9	78 ± 10	80 ± 10
Blood pressure ≥ 140/85 mmHg	55.6%	46.2%	53.1%	59.1%
Pulse pressure (mmHg)	59 ± 16	58 ± 17	59 ± 17	59 ± 16		—
score	27 ± 9	29 ± 8	28 ± 9	26 ± 9
Retinopathy	12.0%	12.5%	12.1%	11.8%	—	—	—
Smokers	16.4%	15.6%	16.0%	16.9%	—
FIB-4 > 3.25 (%)				4.4%
Lipid lowering treatment	54.2%	49.6%	55.5%	54.8%			—
Treatment with statins	49.1%	47.6%	51.6%	48.4%		—
Treatment with fibrates	3.4%	1.3%	2.4%	4.3%
Antihypertensive treatment	71.6%	57.7%	69.7%	75.9%
Treatment with ACE-Is/ARBs	59.8%	47.0%	57.3%	64.1%
Aspirin	34.4%	31.8%	35.6%	34.6%			—
Diabetes treatment:
(i) Diet		8.2%	7.0%	5.9%
(ii) Insulin and metformin or sulfonamides	12.9%	10.4%	11.2%	14.2%	—
(iii) Metformin and sulfonamides	31.7%	28.9%	32.8%	31.9%			—
(iv) Metformin	25.1%	20.4%	24.1%	26.6%
(v) Sulfonamides	8.0%	11.9%	9.3%	6.4%
(vi) Other drugs	1.3%	1.4%	1.4%	1.2%	—	—	—
(vii) Thiazolidinediones	3.5%	3.0%	3.4%	3.6%	—	—	—
(viii) Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors	2.2%	2.2%	2.3%	2.2%	—	—	—

Mean ± standard deviation or percentage of patients. ACE-Is, angiotensin converting enzyme-inhibitors; ARBs, Angiotensin Receptor Blockers; ALT, alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; BMI, body mass index; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; GGT, gamma-glutamyltransferase; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Missing data: AST in 1187 (1.3%), ALT in 1266 (1.3%), serum creatinine and eGFR in 3280 (3.5%), albuminuria in 15901 (16.8%), total cholesterol in 92 (0.1%), HDL-C (mg/dL) in 168 (0.2%), and smoking status in 101 (0.1%). The FIB-4 was calculable in 15882 (40.8%) patients with complete ALT, AST, and platelet count. The level of statistical significance for differences between groups is indicated by for FLI 30–59 versus FLI < 30, for FLI ≥ 60 versus FLI < 30, and for FLI ≥ 60 versus FLI 30–59.
: , : , : , and —: n.s.