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Table 3 Association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and prevalence of hepatic steatosis, Fenland and CoLaus studies*

From: The association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and hepatic steatosis: cross-sectional analysis of two independent studies, the UK Fenland Study and the Swiss CoLaus Study

 

Prevalence ratio (95% CI) across quintiles of pyramid-based Mediterranean diet score†

p trend

Prevalence ratio (95% CI) per SD difference†

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Fenland Study

 Range of scores

3.30–7.84

7.85–8.73

8.74–9.46

9.47–10.28

10.29–14.03

  

 N total

1929

1929

1929

1929

1929

  

  FLI, median (iqr)‡

47.6 (21.1, 76.4)

39.6 (16.1, 69.7)

30.6 (11.9, 61.3)

25.3 (10.3, 55.4)

16.9 (7.5, 42.2)

  

   N cases (score ≥ 60)

773

632

496

424

285

  

   Multivariable + SES + dietary factor§

1.00 (ref.)

0.94 (0.84, 1.06)

0.81 (0.71, 0.92)

0.75 (0.65, 0.86)

0.52 (0.44, 0.62)

< 0.001

0.82 (0.78, 0.86)

   Multivariable + BMI‖

1.00 (ref.)

1.00 (0.88, 1.12)

0.98 (0.86, 1.12)

0.94 (0.82, 1.08)

0.76 (0.64, 0.89)

0.001

0.94 (0.89, 0.98)

CoLaus Study

 Range of scores

1.83–7.45

7.46–8.18

8.19–8.82

8.83–9.47

9.48–12.18

  

 N total

792

791

792

791

791

  

FLI, median (iqr)‡

43.0 (19.0, 72.8)

37.2 (14.9, 66.5)

30.9 (13.2, 56.5)

27.4 (11.7, 53.7)

22.5 (9.4, 49.0)

  

   N cases (score ≥ 60)

297

240

170

160

135

  

   Multivariable + SES + dietary factor§

1.00 (ref.)

0.93 (0.77, 1.12)

0.74 (0.60, 0.90)

0.73 (0.59, 0.90)

0.61 (0.49, 0.77)

< 0.001

0.85 (0.80, 0.91)

   Multivariable + BMI‖

1.00 (ref.)

1.06 (0.87, 1.28)

0.90 (0.74, 1.11)

0.85 (0.69, 1.05)

0.79 (0.63, 1.00)

0.009

0.94 (0.88, 1.006)

  NAFLD liver fat score, median (iqr)**

− 1.5 (− 2.3, − 0.2)

− 1.6 (− 2.3, − 0.4)

− 1.7 (− 2.4, − 0.7)

− 1.8 (− 2.4, − 0.8)

− 2.0 (− 2.5, − 0.8)

  

   N cases (score ≥ − 0.640)

257

240

181

168

172

  

   Multivariable + SES + dietary factor§

1.00 (ref.)

1.03 (0.86, 1.25)

0.84 (0.69, 1.03)

0.82 (0.67, 1.01)

0.85 (0.69, 1.05)

0.022

0.93 (0.87, 0.99)

   Multivariable + BMI‖

1.00 (ref.)

1.08 (0.89, 1.30)

0.92 (0.75, 1.12)

0.88 (0.72, 1.09)

1.02 (0.82, 1.26)

0.50

0.98 (0.91, 1.04)

  1. FLI fatty liver index, iqr interquartile range, SES socio-economic status, BMI body mass index, NAFLD non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
  2. *For this analysis, the outcome was assessed by fatty liver index and NAFLD liver fat score
  3. **Calculated based on an algorithm including presence of the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes and concentrations of fasting serum insulin, fasting serum aspartate-aminotransferase (AST), and AST/alanine-aminotransferase ratio
  4. †In categorical analysis, the population was divided into five groups by quintiles (Q1-Q5) of the Mediterranean diet score, standard deviation is 1.43 and 1.24 for pyramid-based Mediterranean diet score in the Fenland and CoLaus studies, respectively
  5. ‡Calculated based on an algorithm including body mass index, waist circumference, triglycerides, and gamma-glutamyl transferase
  6. §Adjusted for age (years), sex, marital status (single, married/cohabiting, and divorced/widowed), occupational status (routine and professional jobs in the Fenland Study and working and not working in the CoLaus Study), education level (compulsory, secondary, and university), smoking status (never, former, and current), energy intake (kcal/day), physical activity energy expenditure (kcal/day, in the Fenland Study), total energy expenditure (kcal/day—in the CoLaus Study), and date of dietary assessment (in the CoLaus Study)
  7. ‖Further adjusted for BMI. Results of further adjustment for waist circumference were broadly in line with of the further adjustment for BMI (data not shown)