The relationship between DXA-based and anthropometric measures of visceral fat and morbidity in women

Table 9 Liver function tests (LFTs) and adiposity

Liver function tests		OR	SE	z	pvalue	95% CI		Model pseudo-R ²
						Lower	Upper
ALT (0.22)								0.09
	VAT	1.75	0.09	10.9	<2 × 10^-16	1.58	1.93
	Age	1.02	0.01	2.9	0.004	1.01	1.03
ALK (0.27)								0.09
	VAT	1.28	0.14	2.4	0.02	1.05	1.58
	DXA abdominal fat	1.26	0.13	2.3	0.02	1.03	1.54
	Age	1.06	0.01	9.8	<2 × 10^-16	1.05	1.07
BIL* (0.02)								0.054
	VAT	0.62	0.10	−3.0	0.003	0.46	0.85
BIL* (0.02)								0.049
	DXA abdominal fat	0.67	0.10	−2.7	0.01	0.50	0.90
GGT (0.20)								0.06
	VAT	1.25	0.14	1.9	0.05	1.00	1.56
	DXA abdominal fat	1.36	0.15	2.8	0.01	1.10	1.70
	Age	1.02	0.01	2.7	0.007	1.00	1.03

Best-fit multiple regression models for LFTs are presented for the logistic regression models (n = 3014) including potential explanatory variables visceral adipose tissue (VAT) area, DXA total abdominal fat, body mass index (BMI) and age. Prevalence for upper limit of normal threshold for each assay is indicated in brackets (see Methods). Explanatory variables VAT, DXA and BMI are all standardised, implying a change in odds ratio per unit SD change. Year of visit was categorised as quintiles and included in all LFT analyses as a categorical confounding variable. *Note that two multiple regression models are presented for BIL, since both DXA and VAT area predict BIL equally well. Including both measures in this model provides uninterpretable ORs due to co-linearity between the variables (see Additional file 1: Table S1). For evidence of the presented best-fit model and analysis of residuals to account for co-linearity between adiposity variables for the four LFTs, see Additional file 1: Tables S8-S15. Abbreviations: ALT, alanine transaminase, ALK, alkaline phosphatase, BIL, bilirubin, CI, confidence interval, GGT, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase.

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