The authors used International Classification of Disease codes to identify incident chronic liver disease (CLD) among people aged 40–89 years in Scotland between 2004 and 2013. They identified 6667 events in people with type 2 diabetes and 33624 in people without the condition. The most common form of CLD was alcoholic liver disease in people without diabetes and NAFLD in those with the condition.
CLD risk ratios (RRs) were higher in women and increased in line with social deprivation. Alcoholic liver disease, autoimmune liver disease, viral liver disease, haemochromatosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and NAFLD were all associated with type 2 diabetes. In particular, people with type 2 diabetes were at increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (RR, 3.44 in men and 3.69 in women) and NAFLD (RR, 3.15 in men and 5.36 in women).
These findings demonstrate that people with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of liver disease. They support the recent joint recommendations of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, European Association for the Study of Diabetes and European Association for the Study of Obesity, which state that people with type 2 diabetes should be screened for NAFLD every 2–3 years irrespective of liver enzyme levels.
The study can be read in full here.
