Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Risk of Dementia

Abstract

Background and ObjectivesNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and dementia share common risk factors including metabolic disorders. However, whether NAFLD is associated with dementia risk is unclear. We investigated the association between NAFLD and dementia risk as well as the role of cardiovascular complications including heart disease and stroke.MethodsIn this population-based matched cohort study, we identified all Swedish patients aged 65 years or older with NAFLD identified from the National Patient Register (NPR) between 1987 and 2016. These were matched with up to 10 reference individuals from the general population on age, sex, and municipality at the year of diagnosis. Incident dementia diagnosis was derived from the NPR or the Cause of Death Register until 2016. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% CIs were estimated with Cox regression models.ResultsA total of 2,898 patients with NAFLD and 28,357 matched controls were identified (median age at entry, interquartile range [IQR], 70 [8]; 55.1% female). During a median follow-up of 5.5 years (IQR: 8.5 years), 145 (5.0%) patients with NAFLD and 1,291 (4.6%) reference individuals were diagnosed with dementia. Compared with the reference individuals, patients with NAFLD had higher rates of dementia (aHR 1.38, 95% CI 1.10–1.72) and vascular dementia (aHR 1.44, 95% CI 0.96–2.23,p= 0.07). Comorbid NAFLD and either heart disease (aHR 1.50 95% 1.08–2.05) or stroke (aHR 2.60 95% CI 1.95–3.47) conferred a greater risk of dementia.DiscussionNAFLD had a modest association with increased rates of dementia. This was stronger among patients with NAFLD diagnosed with cardiovascular comorbidities.Classification of EvidenceThis study provides Class II evidence that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with the development of vascular and nonvascular dementia.