Abstract
Objective: Calculating statistics for each year of health check-up results, we examined historical changes in the frequency of NAFLD and check-up results.
Methods: We calculated mean ages and NALFD frequencies for each year for persons undergoing the general health check-up center at our hospital from 1996 to 2015 and examined changes over the 20 years. The health check-up results for examinees with NAFLD were divided into a first period (1996 - 2005) and a second period (2006 - 2015) and compared.
Results: The total number of examinees for 1996 - 2015 was 180,248 and there were 39,627 with NAFLD (frequency 22.0%). The frequencies of NAFLD by gender were 28.6% vs. 11.1% for men and women, respectively and that for men was significantly higher. The frequencies by age and gender were as follows: Up to 39 years (men vs. women: 25.5 vs. 4.1%), 40 - 49 years (30.6% vs. 7.9%), 50 - 59 years (29.0% vs. 16.0%), 60 years or over (25.6% vs. 19.7%). For men, the frequency was significantly lower for up to 39 years old and significantly higher for men in their 40s and 50s. For women, the frequency of NAFLD increased with age and at 60 years or above it was significantly higher. NAFLD frequencies for the first and second period were 19.0% and 23.8%, respectively, with the increase in frequency being significant. Comparing health check-up results in those with NAFLD between the first and second periods, AST, ALT and TG were significantly higher in the first period and age, BMI, HDL-C, fasting blood glucose, HbA1c and FIB-4 index were significantly higher in the second period. Regarding frequencies of abnormal results, those for AST, ALT and dyslipidemia were significantly higher in the first period while those for hypertension, high blood glucose and high BMI were significantly higher in the second period.
Conclusion: Health check-up examinees with NAFLD continue to increase steadily. In those with NAFLD, health check-up results for BMI and glucose tolerance have increased in recent years. Also, changes in the FIB4-index measurements over time in this study suggest that the number of NAFLD patients with progressive liver fibrosis at the time of health check-ups could be increasing.
