Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Status and Its Associated Factors Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Adama Hospital Medical College, South Eastern Ethiopia: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background and Aims Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a condition of fat accumulation in hepatocytes, not because of excess alcohol intake and disease‐causing etiology. The disease occurrence is increased among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) because of a strong pathophysiological link. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the NAFLD status and its associated factors among patients with T2DM in Adama Hospital Medical College, South Eastern Ethiopia, 2022. Methods Systematic random sampling was used in an institution‐based cross‐sectional study design from March to June 2022. Sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical data were assessed using a structured questionnaire. Fatty liver was diagnosed using ultrasonography. About 5 mL of blood sample was collected for testing liver enzyme, fasting blood glucose, and lipid profile tests using the Cobas C 311 analyzer. EpiData version 3.1 was used for data input, and Stata version 17 for analysis. Binary and multivariable logistic regression were used to show the association of sociodemographic and clinical variables, and one‐way ANOVA with post hoc Bonferroni test was used to show significant mean differences among different liver status grading. p < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results The prevalence of NAFLD among patients with T2DM was 85.57% (95% CI: 79.8–89.8). Being female and having a longer duration of diabetes had higher odds of having NAFLD. Fasting blood glucose, alanine transaminase, direct bilirubin, total cholesterol, and triglyceride showed a significant mean difference among different NAFLD status as compared to patients with T2DM without NAFLD. Conclusion The prevalence of NAFLD was found high. T2DM patients with longer duration of the diabetes and females were found to have a greater risk for NAFLD.