Clinical characteristics of subjects with and without fatty liver
| Characteristics | All | Fatty liver | No fatty liver | p Value |
| N | 922 | 264 | 658 | |
| Age (years) | 48±11 | 51±9 | 47±11 | <0.001 |
| Male gender, n (%) | 389 (42.2) | 143 (54.2) | 246 (37.4) | <0.001 |
| Current smoker, n (%) | 89 (9.7) | 30 (11.4) | 59 (9.0) | 0.27 |
| Current drinker, n (%) | 203 (22.0) | 76 (28.8) | 127 (19.3) | 0.002 |
| Alcohol consumption (g/week) | 0 (0–350) | 0 (0–350) | 0 (0–300) | 0.006 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 22.8±3.5 | 25.3±3.4 | 21.8±3.0 | <0.001 |
| Men | 23.3±3.0 | 25.0±2.8 | 22.4±2.6 | <0.001 |
| Women | 22.4±3.8 | 25.8±4.0 | 21.4±3.1 | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 81±10 | 89±8 | 79±9 | <0.001 |
| Men | 85±9 | 90±7 | 83±8 | <0.001 |
| Women | 79±10 | 88±8 | 76±9 | <0.001 |
| Waist-to-hip ratio | 0.86±0.08 | 0.90±0.06 | 0.84±0.08 | <0.001 |
| Men | 0.89±0.06 | 0.92±0.05 | 0.87±0.06 | <0.001 |
| Women | 0.84±0.08 | 0.89±0.06 | 0.82±0.08 | <0.001 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 129±20 | 138±19 | 126±19 | <0.001 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 82±12 | 88±12 | 79±11 | <0.001 |
| Creatinine (μmol/l) | 75±15 | 78±16 | 74±15 | <0.001 |
| Total bilirubin (mmol/l) | 14±6 | 13±5 | 14±6 | 0.32 |
| Alkaline phosphatase (IU/l) | 64±18 | 69±17 | 62±18 | <0.001 |
| Alanine aminotransferase (IU/l) | 26±16 | 35±19 | 22±13 | <0.001 |
| Aspartate aminotransferase (IU/l) | 21±12 | 24±10 | 20±13 | <0.001 |
| Fasting glucose (mmol/l) | 5.1±0.9 | 5.6±1.4 | 5.0±0.6 | <0.001 |
| Haemoglobin A1c (%) | 5.4±0.6 | 5.8±0.9 | 5.3±0.4 | <0.001 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/l) | 5.2±1.0 | 5.4±1.0 | 5.1±1.0 | <0.001 |
| HDL-cholesterol (mmol/l) | 1.5±0.4 | 1.3±0.3 | 1.6±0.4 | <0.001 |
| LDL-cholesterol (mmol/l) | 3.0±0.9 | 3.2±0.9 | 2.9±0.8 | <0.001 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/l) | 1.1 (0.3–21.3) | 1.6 (0.3–21.3) | 0.9 (0.3–9.1) | <0.001 |
| Ferritin | 352 (0–3449) | 636 (5–3449) | 286 (0–2909) | <0.001 |
| Haemoglobin (g/dl) | 13.8±1.5 | 14.3±1.4 | 13.6±1.5 | <0.001 |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 48 (5.2) | 29 (11.0) | 19 (2.9) | <0.001 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 143 (15.5) | 81 (30.7) | 62 (9.4) | <0.001 |
| Metabolic syndrome, n (%)† | 187 (20.3) | 125 (47.3) | 62 (9.4) | <0.001 |
| Intrahepatic triglyceride content (%) | 2.1 (0–44.2) | 9.8 (5.0–44.2) | 1.3 (0–4.9) | <0.001 |
| Liver stiffness measurement (kPa)* | 4.6±1.7 | 5.1±1.9 | 4.4±1.6 | <0.001 |
| Liver stiffness ≥9.6 kPa, n (%)* | 15 (2.0) | 8 (3.7) | 7 (1.3) | 0.032 |
↵* Included 759 subjects (217 with fatty liver and 542 without) with valid transient elastography examination.
↵† International Diabetes Federation criteria for metabolic syndrome.
HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein.
Continuous variables were expressed as mean±SD or median (range) as appropriate.