School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-7-2016
Abstract
Liver cirrhosis is a leading cause of death in Hispanics and Hispanics who live in South Texas have the highest incidence of liver cancer in the United States. We aimed at determining the prevalence and associated risk factors of cirrhosis in this population. Clinical and demographic variables were extracted for 2466 participants in the community-based Cameron County Hispanic Cohort in South Texas. Aspartate transaminase to Platelet Ratio Index (APRI) was used to predict cirrhosis in Cameron County Hispanic Cohort. The prevalence of cirrhosis using APRI≥2 was 0.94%, which is nearly 4-fold higher than the national prevalence. Using APRI≥1, the overall prevalence of cirrhosis/advanced fibrosis was 3.54%. In both analyses, highest prevalence was observed in males, specifically in the 25-34 age group. Risk factors independently associated with APRI≥2 and APRI≥1 included hepatitis C, diabetes and central obesity with a remarkable population attributable fraction of 52.5% and 65.3% from central obesity, respectively. Excess alcohol consumption was also independently associated with APRI≥2. The presence of patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing-3 gene variants was independently associated with APRI≥1 in participants >50 years old. Males with both central obesity and excess alcohol consumption presented with cirrhosis/advanced fibrosis at a young age. Alarmingly high prevalence of cirrhosis and advanced fibrosis was identified in Hispanics in South Texas, affecting young males in particular. Central obesity was identified as the major risk factor. Public health efforts are urgently needed to increase awareness and diagnosis of advanced liver fibrosis in Hispanics.
Recommended Citation
Jiao J, Watt GP, Lee M, Rahbar MH, Vatcheva KP, Pan J-J, et al. (2016) Cirrhosis and Advanced Fibrosis in Hispanics in Texas: The Dominant Contribution of Central Obesity. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0150978. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0150978
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
PLoS ONE
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0150978
Comments
© 2016 Jiao et al.