An epidemiological survey of alcoholic liver disease among staff of Yanchang Oilfield

Objective To investigate the prevalence of alcoholic liver disease ( ALD) among the staff of Yanchang Oilfield and related risk factors. Methods The physical examination data were collected from the staff of Yanchang Oilfield in June 2016, and all the staff underwent anthropometric measurement ( body height, body weight, and blood pressure) , laboratory examinations ( routine blood test, liver function, blood lipids, blood glucose, and viral markers) , and upper abdominal ultrasound and completed the questionnaire. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups, and logistic regression was used for multivariate analysis. Results A total of 6723 employees participated in the study, among whom 397 had ALD, and the prevalence rate of ALD was 5. 91%. Compared with female staff, male staff had significantly higher drinking rate ( 65. 07% vs 15. 75%, χ2= 1107. 48, P < 0. 001) and prevalence rate of ALD ( 7. 20% vs 1. 11%, χ2= 75. 34, P < 0. 001) . Male population was the major group for alcohol consumption. There was a significant difference in the prevalence rate of ALD between the staff with different degrees of education ( χ2= 86. 598, P < 0. 001) . The obese group had a significantly higher prevalence rate of ALD than the non-obese group ( 17. 70% vs 9. 27%, χ2= 40. 698, P < 0. 001) . With the increases in drinking volume and drinking years, the prevalence rate of ALD gradually increased, and there was a significant difference in the prevalence rate of ALD between the staff with different daily drinking volumes and drinking years ( χ2= 1147. 428 and 116. 542, both P <0. 001) . With the increase in daily drinking volume, the abnormal rates of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase ( GGT) , alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase ( AST) gradually increased ( χ2= 250. 013, 199. 027, and 151. 459, all P < 0. 001) ; with the increase in drinking years, the abnormal rates of GGT and AST gradually increased, with a significant increase in the abnormal rate of GGT ( χ2= 27. 158, P < 0. 001) . There were significant differences between the drinking group and the control group in the abnormal rates of liver function, blood pressure, blood lipids, body mass index, and mean corpuscular volume ( χ2= 51. 272, 9. 988, 316. 430, 80. 675, and 13.570, all P < 0. 05) . The multivariate analysis showed that age, male sex, obesity, daily drinking volume, drinking pattern, degree of education, GGT, AST, and mean corpuscular volume were closely associated with the development of ALD ( all P < 0. 05) . Conclusion There is a high prevalence rate of ALD among the staff of Yanchang Oilfield. Sex, age, degree of education, drinking volume, drinking pattern, and obesity are major influencing factors for ALD in adults in this region.