Factors associated with advanced hepatic fibrosis in patients with various internal diseases: A multicenter community‐based survey

Background and Aims Advanced hepatic fibrosis can occur in patients with various diseases, including diabetes mellitus and hypertension. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of advanced hepatic fibrosis in patients with various internal diseases. Patients and Methods We performed a community‐based survey in which 1012 patients were enrolled (mean age, 63.1 ± 10.8 years; female/male, 505/507). Hepatic fibrosis was evaluated by Fib‐4 index and patients were classified into high and low Fib‐4 groups. Independent factors for the high Fib‐4 group were analyzed using logistic regression and decision tree analysis. Results A high prevalence of high Fib‐4 index was observed in patients with cardiovascular diseases; 37.1% of patients with hypertension belonged to the high Fib‐4 group. Independent factors associated with the high Fib‐4 group were BMI (OR 0.95, 95%CI 0.918–0.989, P