THE RISK FACTORS OF METABOLIC SYNDROME AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN PATIENTS WITH NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY IN KERMANSHAH, IRAN

YAHYA PASDAR^1,3, MITRA DARBANDI², PARISA NIAZI³, AMIR BAGHERI³, SEYED AMIR REZA MOHAJERI⁴, ABDOLREZA NOROUZY⁵, BEHROOZ HAMZEH^6*

¹Research Center for Environmental Determinants of Health, School of Public Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran - ²Student Research Committee, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran - ³Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran - ⁴School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran - ⁵Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran - ⁶Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

Introduction: Non-alcoholic fatty liver is the most common liver disease in the world that is associated with various metabolic complications. This study was conducted to determine the risk factors of metabolic syndrome and assess the nutritional status of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Kermanshah, Iran.

Methods: The present case-control study examined 250 patients in two groups of 125. The cases were selected through a convenience sampling of patients with NAFLD as per their positive ultrasound results and the controls were selected through a simple random sampling of those with negative ultrasound results. The data collection tools used were a demographic questionnaire and the Food Frequency Questionnaire. The NCEP/ATP-III definition of metabolic syndrome was used. Data were analyzed in Stata-11 using the Chi-square test, the t-test and the logistic regression.

Results: Triglyceride level was significantly higher in the patients with NAFLD compared to the healthy controls (33.33% vs. 14.41%; P=0.001). The waist-to-hip ratio was significantly lower in the control group (43.69% vs. 21.01%; P≤0.001). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 25.5% in the patients with NAFLD and 6.8% in the control group (P<0.001). Protein intake (OR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.13-0.64) and vitamin E intake (OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.54-0.86) had a protective effect against the incidence of NAFLD.

Conclusion: The findings showed a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with NAFLD compared to the healthy subjects and revealed a significant relationship between fatty liver and metabolic syndrome. Ensuring an early diagnosis of NAFLD can help delay the complications of this disease, including metabolic syndrome.