Table 1 Baseline characteristics according to baseline fatty liver index in the UK Biobank cohort
Characteristic | Total (N = 396,838) | Quartile 1 (N = 98,371) | Quartile 2 (N = 99,289) | Quartile 3 (N = 99,714) | Quartile 4 (N = 99,464) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age (years)a | 56.22 ± 8.11 | 54.22 ± 8.21 | 56.63 ± 8.10 | 57.19 ± 7.98 | 56.83 ± 7.82 |  < 0.001 |
Gender |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Male | 189,759 (47.8) | 18,005 (18.3) | 44,415 (44.7) | 60,465 (60.6) | 66,874 (67.2) |  |
 Female | 207,079 (52.2) | 80,366 (81.7) | 54,874 (55.3) | 39,249 (39.4) | 32,590 (32.8) |  |
Ethnicity |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Non-White | 22,788 (5.7) | 4840 (4.9) | 6078 (6.1) | 6445 (6.5) | 5425 (5.5) |  |
 White | 372,582 (93.9) | 93,243 (94.8) | 92,834 (93.5) | 92,871 (93.1) | 93,634 (94.1) |  |
 Unknown | 1468 (0.4) | 288 (0.3) | 377 (0.4) | 398 (0.4) | 405 (0.4) |  |
Education level |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Non-university | 261,356 (65.9) | 56,972 (57.9) | 63,886 (64.3) | 67,902 (68.1) | 72,596 (73.0) |  |
 University | 130,800 (33.0) | 40,552 (41.2) | 34,307 (34.6) | 30,466 (30.6) | 25,475 (25.6) |  |
 Unknown | 4682 (1.2) | 847 (0.9) | 1096 (1.1) | 1346 (1.3) | 1393 (1.4) |  |
Townsend deprivation index | ||||||
 Mean (SD) |  − 1.30 (3.09) |  − 1.51 (2.97) |  − 1.46 (3.02) |  − 1.35 (3.08) |  − 0.90 (3.24) |  < 0.001 |
 Q1(≤ − 3.63) | 99,950 (25.2) | 26,497 (26.9) | 26,241 (26.4) | 25,483 (25.6) | 21,729 (21.8) |  < 0.001 |
 Q2(− 3.63 to − 2.12) | 99,303 (25.0) | 25,220 (25.6) | 25,605 (25.8) | 25,311 (25.4) | 23,167 (23.3) |  |
 Q3(− 2.12–0.58) | 99,259 (25.0) | 24,667 (25.1) | 24,710 (24.9) | 24,739 (24.8) | 25,143 (25.3) |  |
 Q4 (> 0.58) | 97,832 (24.7) | 21,869 (22.2) | 22,617 (22.8) | 24,047 (24.1) | 29,299 (29.5) |  |
 Unknown | 494 (0.1) | 118 (0.1) | 116 (0.1) | 134 (0.1) | 126 (0.1) |  |
Smoking status |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Never | 218,022 (54.9) | 61,575 (62.6) | 57,310 (57.7) | 52,689 (52.8) | 46,448 (46.7) |  |
 Previous | 135,124 (34.1) | 27,564 (28.0) | 31,237 (31.5) | 35,645 (35.7) | 40,678 (40.9) |  |
 Current | 41,725 (10.5) | 8894 (9.0) | 10,288 (10.4) | 10,857 (10.9) | 11,686 (11.7) |  |
 Unknown | 1967 (0.5) | 338 (0.3) | 454 (0.5) | 523 (0.5) | 652 (0.7) |  |
Alcohol drinking |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Never | 17,303 (4.4) | 4221 (4.3) | 4224 (4.3) | 4365 (4.4) | 4493 (4.5) |  |
 Previous | 13,388 (3.4) | 3058 (3.1) | 2957 (3.0) | 3270 (3.3) | 4103 (4.1) |  |
 Current | 365,177 (92.0) | 90,914 (92.4) | 91,874 (92.5) | 91,812 (92.1) | 90,577 (91.1) |  |
 Unknown | 970 (0.2) | 178 (0.2) | 234 (0.2) | 267 (0.3) | 291 (0.3) |  |
IPAQ |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Low | 59,637 (15.0) | 10,788 (11.0) | 12,741 (12.8) | 15,232 (15.3) | 20,876 (21.0) |  |
 Moderate | 131,111 (33.0) | 33,043 (33.6) | 32,875 (33.1) | 33,318 (33.4) | 31,875 (32.0) |  |
 High | 131,356 (33.1) | 37,193 (37.8) | 35,528 (35.8) | 32,338 (32.4) | 26,297 (26.4) |  |
 Unknown | 74,734 (18.8) | 17,347 (17.6) | 18,145 (18.3) | 18,826 (18.9) | 20,416 (20.5) |  |
BMI |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 < 18.5 kg/m2 | 1896 (0.5) | 1858 (1.9) | 31 (0.0) | 7 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |  |
 18.5–24.9 kg/m2 | 124,057 (31.3) | 79,531 (80.8) | 35,633 (35.9) | 8257 (8.3) | 636 (0.6) |  |
 25.0–29.9 kg/m2 | 171,674 (43.3) | 16,904 (17.2) | 59,704 (60.1) | 68,734 (68.9) | 26,332 (26.5) |  |
 ≥ 30 kg/m2 | 99,211 (25.0) | 78 (0.1) | 3921 (3.9) | 22,716 (22.8) | 72,496 (72.9) |  |
 Diabetes | 10,014 (2.5) | 437 (0.4) | 1159 (1.2) | 2281 (2.3) | 6137 (6.2) |  < 0.001 |
 WC (cm)a | 90.47 (13.43) | 75.31 (6.29) | 86.02 (6.01) | 94.10 (6.20) | 106.24 (9.84) |  < 0.001 |
 TG (mg/dL)a | 154.40(91.02) | 90.82 (33.99) | 127.80(51.69) | 168.45(73.41) | 229.75(115.16) |  < 0.001 |
 GGT (U/L)b | 26.40 (18.60, 41.00) | 17.30 (14.10, 22.20) | 23.00 (18.00, 31.10) | 30.60 (23.00, 43.50) | 44.30 (30.80, 69.10) |  < 0.001 |
 ALT (U/L)b | 20.25 (15.47, 27.57) | 15.50 (12.60, 19.20) | 18.60 (15.00, 23.50) | 22.40 (17.70, 29.00) | 28.10 (21.20, 38.20) |  < 0.001 |
 AST (U/L)b | 24.40 (21.00, 28.90) | 22.50 (19.60, 26.10) | 23.70 (20.70, 27.50) | 25.00 (21.60, 29.20) | 27.00 (22.90, 32.70) |  < 0.001 |
 FLIa | 48.29 (30.07) | 10.76 (4.98) | 32.52 (7.66) | 61.12 (8.53) | 88.26 (6.97) |  < 0.001 |
 FLI ≥ 60 | 153,203 (38.6) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 53,739 (53.9) | 99,464 (100.0) |  < 0.001 |
 HSIa | 35.60 (5.87) | 30.21 (2.78) | 33.42 (3.10) | 36.48 (3.54) | 42.25 (5.42) |  < 0.001 |
 HSI > 36 | 163,136 (41.3) | 2012 (2.1) | 19,663 (19.9) | 52,180 (52.5) | 89,281 (90.3) |  < 0.001 |