Subjects
In
this prospective, cross-sectional study we had analysed 2456 consecutive
adult patients age ≥18 years with diagnosed NAFLD at Clinical Hospital
Centre (CHC) Rijeka, University of Rijeka, Croatia. For the purpose of
this study, all patients visiting the Gastroenterology department of CHC
Rijeka between April 2013 and May 2019 were analysed and underwent
anthropometric assessment, blood sampling, abdominal ultrasound (US) and
transiet elastography (TE) with CAP. Exclusion criteria were presence of
other CLD, active malignancy, celiac disease, secondary causes of fatty
liver like drugs (amiodaron, tamoxifen), congestive heart failure
(including valvular heart disease), alcohol consumption of more than 20
g per day for men and more than 10 g per day for women, those with more
than 3 times the normal serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate
aminotransferase (AST) or γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) levels, TE failure
and pregnancy. Those with incomplete information on sleep duration,
coffee consumption and smoking status were not a part of this study.
With this exclusion criteria, 1998 adult patients with NAFLD were
included in the final analysis (Figure 1). The study was approved by the
Institutional Ethics Committee and was conducted in line with the
Declaration of Helsinki. All patients signed written informed consent.