OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

METHODSThe medical records of Tianjin Third Central Hospital were retrospectively reviewed to identify patients who had been hospitalized for treatment of T2DM but without diagnosis of NAFLD between 2007 and 2012 and who had required a second hospitalization during this same period. Each patient was contacted by telephone for self-reporting of SES. Analysis was carried out with patients grouped according to SES (high vs. low) to determine association of SES with incidence of NAFLD at the second hospitalization; the relative risk (RR), attributable risk (AR) and attributable risk percent (ARP) were calculated. Furthermore, the correlation of SES with other clinical and socio-psychological variables was assessed.

RESULTSThe patients in the high and low SES groups showed no significant differences at baseline. For development of NAFLD by the time of the second hospitalization, the low SES group had an RR of 2.19, an AR of 20.74%, and an ARP of 54.39%. Correlation analysis showed that SES was positively correlated with body mass index (r=-0.582) and levels of glycated hemoglobin (r=-0.421), fasting serum insulin (r=-0.570), insulin resistance (as assessed by the HOMA method) (r=-0.487), low-density lipopmtein (r=-0.396) and C-reactive protein (r=-0.353) (all P<0.05), and negatively correlated with high-density lipopmtein (r =0.539) and with the scores for physical functioning (r =0.241), general health (r=0.234), social functioning (r =0.286), emotional health (r=0.251), and mental health (r=0.215) (all P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSES is an influencing factor of NAFLD in patients with T2DM and is closely related to obesity, insulin resistance, lipid metabolic disorder, chronic inflammation and life quality in patients with NAFLD and T2DM.