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Observational Study
. 2016 Mar 14;22(10):3023-30.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i10.3023.

Fatty liver index vs waist circumference for predicting non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Nima Motamed  1 , Masoudreza Sohrabi  1 , Hossein Ajdarkosh  1 , Gholamreza Hemmasi  1 , Mansooreh Maadi  1 , Fatemeh Sima Sayeedian  1 , Reza Pirzad  1 , Khadijeh Abedi  1 , Sivil Aghapour  1 , Mojtaba Fallahnezhad  1 , Farhad Zamani  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Fatty liver index vs waist circumference for predicting non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Nima Motamed et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Aim: To determine the discriminatory performance of fatty liver index (FLI) for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Methods: The data of 5052 subjects aged over 18 years were analyzed. FLI was calculated from body mass index, waist circumference (WC), triglyceride, and gamma glutamyl transferase data. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the association between FLI and NAFLD. The discriminatory performance of FLI in the diagnosis of NAFLD was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic analysis. Area under the curves (AUCs) and related confidence intervals were estimated. Optimal cutoff points of FLI in the diagnosis of NAFLD were determined based on the maximum values of Youden's index.

Results: The mean age of men and women in the study population were 44.8 ± 16.8 and 43.78 ± 15.43, respectively (P = 0.0216). The prevalence of NAFLD was 40.1% in men and 44.2% in women (P < 0.0017). FLI was strongly associated with NAFLD, so that even a one unit increase in FLI increased the chance of developing NAFLD by 5.8% (OR = 1.058, 95%CI: 1.054-1.063, P < 0.0001). Although FLI showed good performance in the diagnosis of NAFLD (AUC = 0.8656 (95%CI: 0.8548-0.8764), there was no significant difference with regards to WC (AUC = 0.8533, 95%CI: 0.8419-0.8646). The performance of FLI was not significantly different between men (AUC = 0.8648, 95%CI: 0.8505-0.8791) and women (AUC = 0.8682, 95%CI: 0.8513-0.8851). The highest performance with regards to age was related to the 18-39 age group (AUC = 0.8930, 95%CI: 0.8766-0.9093). The optimal cutoff points of FLI were 46.9 in men (sensitivity = 0.8242, specificity = 0.7687, Youden's index = 0.5929) and 53.8 in women (sensitivity = 0.8233, specificity = 0.7655, Youden's index = 0.5888).

Conclusion: Although FLI had acceptable discriminatory power in the diagnosis of NAFLD, WC was a simpler and more accessible index with a similar performance.

Keywords: Body mass index; Discriminatory performance; Fatty liver index; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Optimal cutoff points; Waist circumference.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram of study participants and exclusions criteria.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Receiver operating characteristic curves of fatty liver index and their related components. A and B were related to men and women, respectively. Red color dash pattern curve was related to WC, yellow color solid pattern curve was related to BMI, blue color dot pattern curve was related to GGT, purple color long dash 3-dot pattern curve was related to TG, and lime color dash dot pattern curve was related to FLI. BMI: Body mass index; FLI: Fatty liver index; GGT: Gamma glutamyl transferase; TG: Triglyceride; WC: Waist circumference.
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