Gut Liver.
2024 Sep;18(5):888-896. 10.5009/gnl240077.
Impact of Korean Military Service on the Prevalence of Steatotic Liver Disease: A Longitudinal Study of Pre-enlistment and InService Health Check-Ups
- Affiliations
-
- 1The Catholic University Liver Research Center, Department of Biomedicine and Health Sciences, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
- 2Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
- 3Korean Armed Forces Medical Command, Seongnam, Korea
- 4Military Manpower Administration, Daejeon, Korea
- 5Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Eunpyeong St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
- KMID: 2559097
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.5009/gnl240077
Abstract
- Background/Aims
Young Korean men are obligated to serve in the military for 18 to 21 months. We investigated the effects of military service on steatotic liver disease (SLD) and other metabolic parameters.
Methods
Pre-enlistment health check-up performed from 2019 to 2022 and in-service health check-up performed from 2020 to 2022 were merged as paired data. SLD was defined as a hepatic steatosis index of 36 or higher. Hypertension (HTN) and hypertriglyceridemia were also included in the analysis.
Results
A total of 503,136 paired cases were included in the analysis. Comparing pre-enlistment and in-service health check-ups, the prevalence of SLD (22.2% vs 17.6%, p<0.001), HTN (7.6% vs 4.3%, p<0.001), and hypertriglyceridemia (8.1% vs 2.9%, p<0.001) decreased during military service. In terms of body mass index, the proportion of underweight (8.2% vs 1.4%, p<0.001) and severely obese (6.1% vs 4.9%, p<0.001) individuals decreased over time. Regarding fac-tors associated with SLD development and resolution, age was positively associated with SLD development (odds ratio, 1.146; p<0.001) and a health check-up interval of <450 days was a protective factor for SLD development (odds ratio, 0.746; p<0.001). Those serving in the marines were less likely to develop SLD, whereas those serving in the navy were more likely to develop SLD. Serving in the army or the navy was negatively associated with SLD resolution, whereas serving in the air force was positively associated with SLD resolution.
Conclusions
The prevalence of SLD, HTN, and hypertriglyceridemia decreased substantially during Korean military service.
- Full Text Links
-
- Actions
-
Cited
- CITED
-
- Close
- Share
-
- Similar articles
-
- A new Korean nomenclature for steatotic liver disease: Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Nomenclature Revision Consensus Task Force on behalf of the Korean Association for the Study of the Liver (KASL)
- Ursolic acid: A promising therapeutic agent for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease via inhibition of SPP1-induced Th17 cell differentiation: Editorial on “Ursolic acid targets secreted phosphoprotein 1 to regulate Th17 cells against metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease”
- Analysis of the trends in the disparities of toothbrushing and dental care use by household income level using the data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
- Sex differences in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: a narrative review
- Racial and ethnic disparities in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease outcomes: A call for culturally sensitive interventions: Editorial on “Differences in liver and mortality outcomes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by race and ethnicity: A longitudinal real-world study”
