Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease of two ethnic groups in Kuwait: comparison of prevalence and risk factors.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of nonalcoholic hepatic steatosis (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD) and the significance of some risk factors, such as obesity and glucose metabolism impairment, for two major ethnic groups of Kuwait: Arabs and South Asians.


METHODS
143 adults (Arab: n = 81; South Asian: n = 62) were enrolled in the study. Anthropometric measurements including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC) and waist-to-hip ratio were performed along with abdominal ultrasonography. The prevalence of liver steatosis was assessed; its relation to glucose metabolism impairment, obesity, age and gender was compared in the two ethnic groups.


RESULTS
Except for waist-to-hip ratio, the anthropometric parameters were higher in Arabs than South Asians. The respective parameters in Arabs and South Asians were: BMI: 30.9 ± 6.6 versus 27.0 ± 4.5, p < 0.001; WC: 101.5 ± 16.4 versus 94.0 ± 12.2, p = 0.002; HC: 106.6 ± 12.4 versus 99.2 ± 9.9, p < 0.001. Although Arabs were more obese, they did not exhibit a higher prevalence of steatosis (33.3 vs. 29.0%, p = 0.583). According to multivariate analysis, only gender (odds ratio 3.93, p = 0.005), glucose metabolism impairment (odds ratio 4.94, p = 0.003) and WC (odds ratio 4.75, p = 0.012) remained significantly associated with steatosis.


CONCLUSIONS
No significant difference in NAFLD prevalence was found between Arabs and South Asians. Only gender, history of impaired glucose metabolism and abdominal obesity expressed by WC had an independent predictive value for developing liver steatosis.
Department of Internal Medicin, Al-Rashid Hospital, Salmiya, Kuwait. paba54@hotmail.com
Pavel
P
Babusik
Maha
M
Bilal
Ivan
I
Duris
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018912:Arabs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D055105:Waist Circumference; D055815:Young Adult