Bhargava Bharam, Rao Padaki Nagaraja, Kulkarni Anand V, Vishnubhotla Ravikanth, Pramod Nanditha, Anitha Chandanadur Thippaiah, Mahadev Kalyankar
School of Medical Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India.
Asian Institute of Gastroenterology Hospital, Hyderabad, India.
Sci Rep. 2025 Mar 24;15(1):10124. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-91482-2.
The Information Technology (IT) sector is a leading industry that fuels India's economic growth. However, the work culture in this sector often promotes sedentary lifestyle, inadequate physical activity, and unhealthy dietary patterns which are risk factors for various non-communicable disease (NCD). This study aims to assess the prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) among IT employees and its association with behavioural and biological risk factors. This cross-sectional study involved 345 IT employees in Hyderabad, India, who responded to a questionnaire on their occupational sitting, shift work, stress, sleep duration, smoking, physical activity, and food habits. Anthropometric, biochemical, metabolic, and liver function parameters were evaluated. MAFLD was diagnosed using a Vibration-Controlled Transient Elastography FibroScan. Chi-square test and Spearman's rank correlation were performed to analyse the associations and correlations between risk factors. The median age of the employees was 38 years (34-43 years) with a body mass index (BMI) of 244 (70.72%) obese. Approximately, 248 (71.88%), 89 (25.80%), 241 (69.86%) and 131 (37.97%) of employees were found to sit for long hours at work, had shift work, sleep deprivation and stress, respectively. Almost 72 (20.87%) of IT employees had elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG) and 264 (76.52%) had high low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C). Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) was present in 118 (34.20%) of the employees. A total of 290 (84.06%) employees had increased liver fat accumulation indicating MAFLD. There is high prevalence of MAFLD among IT employees, highlighting the urgent need for workplace interventions and health promotion initiatives addressing MAFLD risk in the IT workforce.
信息技术（IT）行业是推动印度经济增长的主导产业。然而，该行业的工作文化往往助长久坐不动的生活方式、体育活动不足和不健康的饮食习惯，而这些都是各种非传染性疾病（NCD）的风险因素。本研究旨在评估IT员工中代谢功能障碍相关脂肪性肝病（MAFLD）的患病率及其与行为和生物风险因素的关联。这项横断面研究涉及印度海得拉巴的345名IT员工，他们回答了一份关于职业久坐、轮班工作、压力、睡眠时间、吸烟、体育活动和饮食习惯的问卷。评估了人体测量、生化、代谢和肝功能参数。使用振动控制瞬时弹性成像FibroScan诊断MAFLD。进行卡方检验和斯皮尔曼等级相关性分析，以分析风险因素之间的关联和相关性。员工的中位年龄为38岁（34 - 43岁），体重指数（BMI）为244，其中70.72%为肥胖。大约分别有248名（71.88%）、89名（25.80%）、241名（69.86%）和131名（37.97%）员工被发现工作时长时间坐着、从事轮班工作、睡眠不足和有压力。几乎72名（20.87%）IT员工空腹血糖（FBG）升高，264名（76.52%）低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL - C）升高。118名（34.20%）员工患有代谢综合征（MetS）。共有290名（84.06%）员工肝脏脂肪堆积增加，表明患有MAFLD。IT员工中MAFLD的患病率很高，凸显了迫切需要在工作场所采取干预措施和开展健康促进活动，以解决IT员工群体中MAFLD的风险问题。
