Gender and racial differences in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Table 1 Prevalence rates of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease from population-based studies

Ref.	Study population	n	Definition of NAFLD	Prevalence of NAFLD
				Overall	NHW	Hispanic	NHB	Others
Ruhl et al[11]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	5724	ALT1	2.8%	2.6%	8.4%	1.9%	3.1%
Clark et al[12]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	15676	ALT or AST2	5.4%	4.8%	9.9%	4.2%
Browning et al[13]	Dallas Heart Study	2287	MRS3	31%	33%	45%	24%
Ioannou et al[15]	NHANES (1999-2002)	6823	ALT or AST4	8.1%
Younossi et al[17]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	11613	Ultrasound	18.8%
Lazo et al[18]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	12454	Ultrasound	19%	17.8%	24.1%	13.5%
Schneider et al[19]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	9675	Ultrasound		12.5%	21.2%	11.6%
Smits et al[20]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	3846	Ultrasound	30.2%	29.8%	39.4%	23.1%
Liangpunsakul et al[22]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	4376	ALT2	4.5%

¹ALT > 43 U/L;

²ALT > 40 U/L and AST > 37 U/L for men; ALT and AST > 31 U/L for women;

³Hepatic triglyceride content > 5.5%;

⁴ALT > 43 U/L or AST >40 U/L. NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; NAFLD: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; MRS: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy; NHW: Non-Hispanic whites; NHB: Non-Hispanic blacks.

Table 2 Gender difference in the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease from population-based studies

Ref.	Study population	n	Definition of NAFLD	Prevalence of NAFLD
				Men	Women
Ruhl et al[11]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	5724	ALT1	4.3%	1.6%
Clark et al[12]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	15676	ALT or AST2	5.7%	4.6%
Browning et al[13]	Dallas Heart Study	7345	MRS3	42%	24%
Ioannou et al[15]	NHANES (1999-2002)	6823	ALT or AST4	13.4%6	4.5%6
Lazo et al[18]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	12454	Ultrasound	20.2%	15.8%
Schneider et al[19]	NHANES III (1988-1994)	40375	Ultrasound	15%	10.1%

¹ALT > 43 U/L;

²ALT > 40 U/L and AST > 37 U/L for men; ALT and AST > 31 U/L for women;

³Hepatic triglyceride content > 5.5%;

⁴ALT > 43 U/L or AST >40 U/L;

⁵Non-Hispanic white only;

⁶Not adjusted for alcohol consumption or hepatitis C antibody status. NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; NAFLD: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; MRS: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy.