Systematic review on the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in South Korea

• Published in: Clinics and research in hepatology and gastroenterology Vol. 45; no. 4; p. 101526
• Main Authors: Im, Hwi Jin, Ahn, Yo Chan, Wang, Jing-Hua, Lee, Myung Min, Son, Chang Gue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France Elsevier Masson SAS 01.07.2021
• Subjects: Asia; Body Mass Index; Epidemiology; Female; Humans; Male; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - epidemiology; Prevalence; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Steatohepatitis; Steatosis; Republic of Korea; NAFLD; FLI; CI; NASH; Epidemiology; Steatosis; CT; Asia; Steatohepatitis; VLDL; HCV; NAFL; BMI; WHO
• ISSN: 2210-7401; 2210-741X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clinre.2020.06.022

•The current study is the first systematic review on NAFLD prevalence in Korea.•The overall NAFLD prevalence in Korea was 30.3% as two-fold higher in men (41.4%) than women (20.3%).•The prevalence of NAFLD in Korea was further analyzed according to gender, age, severity, and BMI in this study. We aimed to conduct a systematic review and a meta-analysis to estimate NAFLD prevalence and its change in Korea. We searched the literature involving NAFLD prevalence in Korea in PubMed, RISS, and KMBASE from inception to June 2017. Studies with subjects with certain disorders, population limitations, or subjects who consume alcohol were excluded. Analysis was stratified by publication year, age, gender, severity, body mass index (BMI), and diagnostic technique. Random-effects models were used to provide point estimates (95% confidence interval) of prevalence with subgroup analysis to account for heterogeneity. A total of 61 studies (837,897 participants) were included. The overall NAFLD prevalence in Korea was 30.3% (men: 41.1%, women: 20.3%), with a slight increase from 29.0% to 31.0% over an approximately 10-year period. BMI significantly affected NAFLD prevalence (≤ or > 25 kg/m2, 12.3% vs. 41.7%, p < 0.001), while women were significantly affected by aging (< or ≥ 50 years, 17.0% vs. 25.8%, p < 0.01). The prevalence of steatosis by severity was 22.6% for mild, 9.8% for moderate to severe and 2.2% for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), with different patterns by gender. The current study is the first systematic analysis on NAFLD prevalence in Korea and found a change in NAFLD prevalence during the recent decade.