Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease Increases the Risk of Gastroesophageal Reflux Symptoms

Figures & data

Table 1 The Background Characteristics of the Study Population (n=3002)

Characteristic Variable	GERS Group (n=305)	Non-GERS Group (n=2697)	Chi-Square /t-value	p-value
Male in gender	149 (48.9%)	1324 (49.1%)	0.006	0.952
Age	41.5±9.8	39.1±9.5	4.464	<0.001
Educational background			5.075	0.079
Undergraduate	185 (60.7%)	1670 (61.9%)
Below undergraduate	68 (22.3%)	474 (17.6%)
Above undergraduate	52 (17.0%)	553 (20.5%)
Smoking	58 (19.0%)	464 (17.2%)	0.626	0.426
Alcohol drinking	5 (1.6%)	42 (1.6%)	0.018*	0.809
Exercise			1.266	0.531
Hardly any exercise	100 (32.8%)	801 (29.7%)
<150min/week	119 (39.0%)	1090 (40.4%)
>150 min/week	86 (28.2%)	806 (29.9%)
Sleeping duration			8.849	0.012
<5 hours	11(3.6%)	58 (2.2%)
5–7 hours	186 (61.0%)	1467 (54.4%)
>7 hours	108 (35.4%)	1172 (43.5%)
Habit of overeating	74 (24.3%)	491 (18.2%)	6.579	0.013
Irregular eating	63 (20.7%)	437 (16.2)	3.913	0.052
The habit of lying flat after a meal	164 (53.8%)	1157 (42.9%)	13.142	<0.001
GerdQ Score	8.9±1.3	5.9±0.7	62.378	<0.001
Hypertension	32 (10.5%)	145 (5.4%)	12.923	0.001
Diabetes mellitus	6 (2.0%)	48 (1.8%)	0.055	0.819
Helicobacter pylori infection	86 (28.2%)	744 (27.6%)	0.051	0.839
MAFLD	122 (40.0%)	830 (30.8%)	10.768	0.001
Anxiety score	6.1±3.6	4.5±3.2	8.115	<0.001
Depression score	5.3±3.9	4.3±3.2	5.347	<0.001
BMI	25.2±3.8	24.7±3.8	2.332	0.020
Waist Circumference	83.4±10.9	81.5±11.2	2.908	0.004
SBP	124.4±15.7	122.2±15.4	2.389	0.017
DBP	77.1±12.4	75.3±11.5	2.470	0.014
Serum uric acid	338.8±87.4	338.4±96.1	0.064	0.949
Blood glucose	5.105±1.095	5.054±0.957	0.873	0.383
LDL-C	2.734±0.643	2.698±0.668	0.887	0.375
HDL-C	1.249±0.321	1.279±0.297	−1.626	0.104
TG	1.22(0.81, 1.81)	1.06 (0.75, 1.61)		0.002
TC	5.042±0.904	4.995±0.933	0.835	0.404
ALT	18 (13, 29)	18 (12, 28)		0.302
AST	21.0±8.2	20.7±9.1	0.634	0.526
Albumin	45.7±2.4	46.2±2.5	−3.153	0.002
ALP	70.0±18.0	68.2±17.7	1.724	0.085
γ-GT	22 (15, 34)	21(14, 34)		0.192
TBIL	13.6±5.1	13.8±5.2	−0.781	0.435
DBIL	3.8±1.6	3.9±1.6	−1.681	0.093
BA	2.2 (1.4, 3.2)	2.2 (1.5, 0.2)		0.513

Notes: Data are shown as the mean±SD, the median (P25, P75) or number (%). ^*Fisher's test.

Abbreviations: MAFLD, Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease; BMI, body mass index; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; LDL-C, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol; HDL-C, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol; TG, triglycerides; TC, total cholesterol; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; γ-GT, gamma-glutamyltranspetidase; TBIL, total bilirubin; DBIL, direct bilirubin; BA, bile acids.

Table 2 Results of Univariate Logistic Regression Analysis of the Risk Factors for GERG Like Symptoms (Enter Method)

Independent Variable	B-value	p-value	OR (95% CI)
MAFLD	0.405	0.001	1.5 (1.176~1.913)
Age	0.027	<0.001	1.028 (1.015~1.040)
Sleeping duration
>7 hours		0.013
<5 hours	0.722	0.036	2.058 (1.049~4.038)
5–7 hours	0.319	0.012	1.376 (1.072~1.765)
Habit of overeating	0.364	0.011	1.439 (1.088~1.903)
The habit of lying flat after a meal	0.437	<0.001	1.548 (1.221~1.963)
History of hypertension	0.724	<0.001	2.063 (1.379~3.086)
Anxiety score	0.134	<0.001	1.143 (1.106~1.182)
Depression score	0.088	<0.001	1.092 (1.057~1.128)
BMI	0.036	0.020	1.037 (1.006~1.068)
Waist circumference	0.015	0.004	1.015 (1.005~1.026)
Systolic blood pressure	0.009	0.017	1.009 (1.002~1.017)
Diastolic blood pressure	0.013	0.014	1.013 (1.003~1.023)
TG	0.148	0.004	1.159 (1.048~1.282)
Albumin	−0.077	0.002	0.926 (0.881~0.973)

Abbreviations: MAFLD, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease; BMI, body mass index; TG, triglycerides.

Table 3 Results of Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis of the Risk Factors for Gastroesophageal Reflux Symptoms (Conditional Backward Method)

Independent Variable	B-value	p-value	OR (95% CI)
MAFLD	0.342	0.010	1.408 (1.085~1.826)
Age	0.026	<0.001	1.027 (1.012~1.041)
The habit of lying flat after a meal	0.393	0.002	1.481 (1.154~1.902)
Anxiety score	0.137	<0.001	1.147 (1.108~1.187)
History of hypertension	0.452	0.045	1.572 (1.010~2.448)
Albumin	−0.073	0.007	0.930 (0.882~0.980)

Abbreviation: MAFLD, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease.

Figure 1 Comparison of GerdQ scores between the MAFLD group and non-MAFLD group.

Abbreviation: MAFLD, metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease.