Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with benign gastrointestinal disorders

AIM: To explore associations between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and benign gastrointestinal and pancreato-biliary disorders.METHODS: Patient demographics, diagnoses, and hospital outcomes from the 2010 Nationwide Inpatient Sample were analyzed. Chronic liver diseases were identified using International Classification of Diseases, the 9^th Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Patients with NAFLD were compared to those with other chronic liver diseases for the endpoints of total hospital charges, disease severity, and hospital mortality. Multivariable stepwise logistic regression analyses to assess for the independent association of demographic, comorbidity, and diagnosis variables with the event of NAFLD (vs other chronic liver diseases) were also performed.RESULTS: Of 7800441 discharge records, 32347 (0.4%) and 271049 (3.5%) included diagnoses of NAFLD and other chronic liver diseases, respectively. NAFLD patients were younger (average 52.3 years vs 55.3 years), more often female (58.8% vs 41.6%), less often black (9.6% vs 18.6%), and were from higher income areas (23.7% vs 17.7%) compared to counterparts with other chronic liver diseases (all P < 0.0001). Diabetes mellitus (43.4% vs 28.9%), hypertension (56.9% vs 47.6%), morbid obesity (36.9% vs 8.0%), dyslipidemia (37.9% vs 15.6%), and the metabolic syndrome (28.75% vs 8.8%) were all more common among NAFLD patients (all P < 0.0001). The average total hospital charge ($39607 vs $51665), disease severity scores, and intra-hospital mortality (0.9% vs 6.0%) were lower among NALFD patients compared to those with other chronic liver diseases (all P < 0.0001).Compared with other chronic liver diseases, NAFLD was significantly associated with diverticular disorders [OR = 4.26 (3.89-4.67)], inflammatory bowel diseases [OR = 3.64 (3.10-4.28)], gallstone related diseases [OR = 3.59 (3.40-3.79)], and benign pancreatitis [OR = 2.95 (2.79-3.12)] on multivariable logistic regression (all P < 0.0001) when the latter disorders were the principal diagnoses on hospital discharge. Similar relationships were observed when the latter disorders were associated diagnoses on hospital discharge.CONCLUSION: NAFLD is associated with diverticular, inflammatory bowel, gallstone, and benign pancreatitis disorders. Compared with other liver diseases, patients with NAFLD have lower hospital charges and mortality.