NAFLD fibrosis score: A prognostic predictor for mortality and liver complications among NAFLD patients

Table 5 Comparison of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients alive vs deceased n (%) (mean ± SD)

Variables	NAFLD patients alive (n = 263)	NAFLD patients deceased (n = 39)	P value
At baseline
Age (yr)	45.2 ± 11.5	61.1 ± 13.8	< 0.0001
Sex (% male)	120 (45.6)	12 (30.8)	0.08
History of diabetes	37 (14.1)	11 (28.2)	0.02
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	134 ± 17	143 ± 21	0.02
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	83 ± 8	79 ± 10	0.03
Glucose (mg/dL)	112 ± 38.6	132.7 ± 54.3	0.03
AST (U/L)	42.2 ± 25.5	35.5 ± 20.0	0.06
ALT (U/L)	64.2 ± 44.6	43.6 ± 27.4	0.000
AST/ALT ratio	0.8 ± 0.4	1.0 ± 0.7	0.06
Albumin (g/dL)	4.3 ± 0.3	4.0 ± 0.4	< 0.0001
FRS	7.9 ± 6.2	11.4 ± 5.2	0.000
Calculated CHD risk (%)	15.3 ± 14.0	22.2 ± 17.1	0.02
NFS	-1.9 ± 1.3	-0.8 ± 1.7	0.0004
NFS of intermediate or high probability of advanced liver fibrosis (%)	94 (35.7)	27 (69.2)	< 0.0001
Presence of histologically advanced liver fibrosis	7/35 (20.0)	5/11 (45.5)	0.09
During the follow-up period	77 (29.3)	3 (7.7)	0.004
Use of metformin
Use of aspirin	151 (57.4)	16 (41.0)	0.05
Use of simvastatin	107 (40.7)	3 (7.9)	< 0.0001
New events of coronary heart disease	16 (6.1)	14 (35.9)	< 0.0001
Liver complications	1 (0.4)	5 (12.8)	< 0.0001
At the end of follow-up
BMI (kg/m2)	33.9 ± 6.9	31.8 ± 8.2	0.1
Hematocrit (%)	40.4 ± 4.1	34.5 ± 6.3	< 0.0001
Glucose (mg/dL)	122.0 ± 38.6	139.0 ± 62.3	0.12
AST/ALT ratio	0.9 ± 0.5	1.3 ± 1.0	0.01
Albumin (g/dL)	4.1 ± 0.3	3.3 ± 0.7	< 0.0001
Creatinine (mg/dL)	1.0 ± 0.5	1.7 ± 1.3	0.004
NFS	-0.9 ± 1.4	0.7 ± 2.3	< 0.0001
NFS change per year (Median; IQR)	0.07 (0.02, 0.12)	0.14 (0.01, 0.31)	0.03
NFS of intermediate to high probability of advanced liver fibrosis (%)	168 (63.9)	31 (79.5)	0.05

To avoid overestimation of the model, we excluded those variables used as a part of NAFLD fibrosis score calculation (age, history of diabetes, aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio, platelet count, albumin, body mass index and Framingham risk score). NAFLD: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; BMI: Body mass index; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; FRS: Framingham risk score; CHD: Coronary heart disease; NFS: NAFLD fibrosis score.