Comparison of the ability between fatty liver index and triglyceride glucose index to screen hepatic steatosis in postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: To compare the potential of triglyceride glucose index (TyG) and fatty liver index (FLI) and to explore which index is better for detecting nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 594 Chinese nondiabetic postmenopausal women retrospectively. NAFLD was defined as a hepatic steatosis observed on liver ultrasonography in the absence of a second cause. Binary Logistic regression model analysis was used to determine odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) between hepatic steatosis and TyG as well as FLI. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and area under curve (AUC) were employed to determine the ability of FLI and TyG as well as the combination of TyG with obesity indices to detect hepatic steatosis, and the AUC values were also compared between them. Results: women with the highest value of FLI or TyG had significantly higher odds of hepatic steatosis. The AUC values of FLI was significantly larger than that of TyG in either overall women (difference between area: 0.0743, 95% CI: 0.0396-0.109, P < 0.0001) or women younger (difference between area: 0.0629, 95% CI: 0.0262-0.0996, P=0.0008) and older (difference between area: 0.116, 95% CI: 0.0242-0.207, P=0.0132) than 60 years. Furthermore, when TyG was added to each obesity index, the AUC value of FLI was still significantly larger than that of each combination. Conclusions: Compared with TyG along or combination of TyG and obesity indices, FLI is a better surrogate index for detecting hepatic steatosis among Chinese nondiabtic postmenopausal women.