The Investigation on the Correlation between Obesity Indicator and Hepatitis B and C

Background: Obesity is an important health issue worldwide, and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are the two major causes of liver disease that lead to Taiwan's medical health and socio-economic problems. There are currently few studies in the nation on the correlation between obesity indicators and hepatitis B and C.

Purpose: This study uses adult health check data analysis to understand the correlation of obesity indicators and hepatitis B and C.

Methods: This study is a cross-sectional research. The study collected people who did health examinations of a regional hospital in Kaohsiung from 2011 to 2016. The waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), and waist-height ratio (WHR) are used as obesity indicators.

Results: A total of 16,459 cases were included in the analysis. The prevalence of abnormal WC is 20.5%, and the WHR abnormal prevalence rate is 32.1%. Underweight Body Mass Index (BMI) BMI ≤ 18.4 kg/m2 (3.8%), normal BMI ranging from 18.5-23.9 kg/m2 (48.1%), overweight BMI ranging from 24.0-26.9 kg/m2 (26.7%), obesity BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2 (21.4%). The abnormal rate of hepatitis B was 13.6%, and the abnormal rate of hepatitis C was 1.9%. Logistic regression analysis shows that WC is a risk factor for hepatitis B (OR=1.181, 95%CI=1.014-1.377), and WHR is a protective factor (OR=0.771, 95%CI=0.673-0.885). WHR is a risk factor for hepatitis C (OR=1.571, 95%CI=1.246-1.981).

Conclusions: The WC and WHR are respectively the risk factors for hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and the WHR is the protective factor for hepatitis B.