Background:
Little is known about hepatic steatosis (HS) incidence and its relationship to underlying or new-onset cardiometabolic risk. This study aims to assess the incidence of hepatic steatosis in an asymptomatic population and to determine its relationship to both prevalent and new-onset cardiometabolic risk factors.
Methods:
We analyzed retrospective data from a voluntary employer-sponsored routine health promotion evaluation at the Preventive Medicine Center of the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein (São Paulo, Brazil) collected from October 2004 to December 2016.Medical and demographic history, anthropometric measures including blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference, and fasting blood samples were obtained. Participants also had ultrasonography to assess for HS. We included data from 8,448 individuals who had complete cardiometabolic and ultrasound data at baseline and repeated all tests at least 6 months later.
Results:
The mean age (standard deviation, SD) of participants was 40 (9) years. Over a mean (SD) follow-up of 3.4 (2.3) years, the incidence of HS was 14.7%. As shown in the table, diabetes, poor physical activity, elevated waist circumference and cigarette smoking at baseline were independently associated with hepatic steatosis. There was an additive effect of the increasing cardiometabolic risk factors (see graph) on the risk of developing HS. Participants with new-onset cardiometabolic risk factors also had a higher risk of incident HS after accounting for baseline demographics and cardiometabolic risk factors (see forest plot). This was most pronounced for incident obesity (BMI ≥ 30 Kg/m
2
).
Conclusion:
In this relatively young population, the incidence of HS was high and was both independently and collectively associated with baseline cardiometabolic risk. New-onset cardiometabolic risk tracks with incident HS. This study emphasizes the need for assessing and mitigating cardiometabolic risk in the prevention of HS.
Are There Different Criteria Affecting Prevalence of Impaired Glucose Regulation as Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Young Adults Other than BMI and Waist Circumference?
