Arsenic exposure and risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among U.S. adolescents and adults: an association modified by race/ethnicity, NHANES 2005–2014

Table 2

Geometric mean alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels by demographic and weight status subgroups

Covariate	N	Mean, IU/L	95% CI for Mean		p-value^*
Age
≤ 19 years	2063	17.7	17.2	18.3	p < 0.0001
≥ 20 years	6455	22.2	21.9	22.6	p < 0.0001
Gender
Male	3994	25.1	24.6	25.7	p < 0.0001
Female	4524	18.9	18.6	19.2	p < 0.0001
Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic White	3579	21.5^ab	21.1	21.9	p < 0.0001
Non-Hispanic Black	1828	19.2^c	18.8	19.7
Mexican-American	1624	23.8^a	23.0	24.5
Other Hispanic	770	23.8^abc	22.8	24.1
Other or Mixed	717	21.5^bc	20.6	22.5
Weight Status [n (%)]
Normal or underweight (BMI <25.9 kg/m²)	3319	18.5^a	18.2	18.9	p < 0.0001
Overweight (BMI 25.9–29.9 kg/m²)	2480	22.6^b	22.1	23.1
Obese (BMI >30 kg/m²)	2719	24.6^b	24.0	25.2
PIR Status [n (%)]
< 1.3	2607	20.4^ab	19.9	20.9	p = 0.02
1.3- < 3.5	2852	21.1^a	20.6	21.5
≥ 3.5	2412	22.5^b	21.9	23.0
Missing	647	21.5^ab	20.7	22.4

^*P-value from ANOVA or t-tests

Note: means with same superscript letter are not significantly different