Lipid accumulation product is a powerful tool to predict non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Chinese adults

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), recognized as the liver manifestation of metabolic syndrome, is highly prevalent in the general population. Recent studies suggest that lipid accumulation product is significantly associated with metabolic abnormalities. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of lipid accumulation product (LAP) as an effective screening tool for diagnosing NAFLD in the general population. METHODS: A total of 40,459 subjects aged ≥18 years were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. LAP was calculated as [waist circumference (cm) – 65] × triglyceride concentration (mmol//L) in men and [waist circumference (cm) – 58] × triglyceride concentration (mmol/L) in women. Multiple logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were performed. RESULTS: According to multiple logistic regression analyses, LAP was significantly associated with a higher prevalence and severity of NAFLD in both men and women. When assessed using ROC curve analyses, LAP exhibited high diagnostic accuracy for identifying NAFLD, and the areas under the curves (AUC) in men and women were 0.843 (95% CI 0.837, 0.849) and 0.887 (95% CI 0.882, 0.892), respectively. After further analyzed in different age groups, the diagnostic accuracy of LAP was found to be significantly better in younger age groups (aged 18-34 for men; aged 18-34 and 35-44 years for women) for both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: LAP is significantly associated with the presence and severity of NAFLD, and has a high diagnostic accuracy for identifying NAFLD in the general population. The diagnostic accuracy of LAP was especially high among younger age groups. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12986-017-0206-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.