Neck circumference to height ratio is a reliable predictor of liver stiffness and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in prediabetes

Background and Objectives: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and dysglycemia are public health challenges. There is urgent need for anthropometric surrogates for NAFLD screening. This study evaluated role of neck circumference (NC) and neck-height ratio (NHtR) as predictors of liver stiffness measure (LSM) in individuals with prediabetes (IPD). Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 188 IPD from 1130 screened individuals underwent anthropometry, ultrasonography, Fibroscan® for LSM, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance (IR), and fetuin-A assessment. Results: Hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), metabolic syndrome (MetS), NAFLD, and significant liver stiffness (SLS) (LSM >8.5kPa) were observed in 53.7%, 31.4%, 71.3%, 73.9%, 24.5%, and 11.2% prediabetes individuals, respectively. Prediabetes with NAFLD had significantly higher body mass index (BMI), NC, NHtR, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, fatty liver index (FLI), and LSM. Prediabetes in highest NHtR quartile had significantly higher BMI, hypertension, MetS, fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin, homeostatic model assessment-IR, NAFLD, LSM, SLS, and lower HDL-C. Stepwise forward linear regression revealed that NHtR, FLI, and LDL-C were best predictors of LSM, at baseline (Model-1), after adjusting for age and sex (Model-2), and adjusting model-2 plus systolic and diastolic blood pressure (Model-3). NHtR and NC (in females) and NHtR and BMI (in males) had largest area under the curves for predicting LSM, NAFLD, and MetS. NHtR ≥21.54 cm/m (sensitivity: 90%; specificity: 52.5%; females) and ≥21.62 cm/m (sensitivity: 80%; specificity: 49.4%; males) was best predictor of SLS. Interpretation and Conclusion: NHtR is a reliable tool for community screening of NAFLD and liver stiffness in prediabetes.