Investigation on prevalence and risk factors of fatty liver in air force fighter pilots

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of fatty liver in air force fighter pilots. Methods: Six hundred and sixty two air force fighter pilots served as subjects.Liver ultrasonography,body weight,height and fasting blood lipid levels were measured.The related factors were investigated through questionnaire. Risk factors were determined by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The fatty liver prevalence in this group of air force fighter pilots was 9.7%.The risk factors of fatty liver determined by multivariate analysis were enumerated in order of OR value as follows: alcohol drinking,body mass index（BMI）,hypertriglyceridemia,total flying time,age.Odd ratio（OR） value of the leading risk factor——alcohol drinking was as high as 11.60. Conclusion: As the incidence of fatty liver in air force fighter pilots is much higher than that of general population as well as civil aviators,the intervention on controllable risk factors must be enhanced in air force flying unit.