Table 1

Characteristics of the included studies and participants

Authorship, published yearParticipants
(n, % of men)
LocationAgeStudy designBaseline CVD excludedQuality scoreModalities for NAFLD diagnosis
Mantovani et al,22 2015T2DM: 64 (85.9%)
T2DM+NAFLD: 158 (63.9%)
ItalyT2DM: 66.9±7
T2DM+NAFLD: 68.6±7
Cross-sectional study (prospective)Yes8Liver ultrasonography
Lee et al,23 2021T2DM: 48 (47.9%)
T2DM+NAFLD: 83 (60.2%)
KoreaT2DM: 60.8±8.9
T2DM+NAFLD: 60.7±8.9
Cross-sectional study (retrospective)Yes9Liver transient elastography
Chang et al,24 2019T2DM: 30 (73.3%)
T2DM+NAFLD: 67 (70.1%)
ChinaT2DM: 48.5±10
T2DM+NAFLD: 46.3±7.9
Cross-sectional study (prospective)Yes7Liver ultrasonography
Bonapace et al,25 2012T2DM: 18 (72.2%)
T2DM+NAFLD: 32 (78.1%)
CanadaT2DM: 63.0±6
T2DM+NAFLD: 64.8±4
Cross-sectional study (prospective)Yes7Liver ultrasonography
Gu et al,26 2016T2DM: 49 (61.2%)
T2DM+NAFLD: 60 (56.7%)
ChinaT2DM: 57.0±10
T2DM+NAFLD: 55.0±10
Cross-sectional study (prospective)Yes8Liver transient elastography
Wang et al,27 2018T2DM: 40 (52.5%)
T2DM+NAFLD: 40 (52.5%)
ChinaT2DM: 60.8±8.1
T2DM+NAFLD: 64.4±7.9
Cross-sectional study (retrospective)Yes8Liver ultrasonography
Lee et al,28 2020T2DM: 251 (27.1%)
T2DM+NAFLD: 40 (21.1%)
KoreaT2DM: 63.9±7.3
T2DM+NAFLD: 62.5±6.7
Cross-sectional study (retrospective)Yes9Liver ultrasonography
Yang et al,29 2019T2DM: 75 (85.3%)
T2DM+NAFLD: 178 (64.0%)
ChinaT2DM: 66.5±8.2
T2DM+NAFLD: 67.8±9.3
Cross-sectional study (prospective)Yes8Liver ultrasonography
Wang et al,30 2020T2DM: 88 (NA)
T2DM+NAFLD: 94 (NA)
ChinaT2DM: 54.9±6.9
T2DM+NAFLD: 54.6±6.3
Cross-sectional study (prospective)Yes7Liver ultrasonography
Saluja et al,31 2019T2DM: 13 (53.8%)
T2DM+NAFLD: 57 (54.4%)
IndiaT2DM: 58.6±11.2
T2DM+NAFLD: 55.1±10.4
Cross-sectional study (prospective)Yes7Liver ultrasonography
  • CVD, cardiovascular disease; NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; T2DM, type 2 diabetes mellitus.