Su Bo Yang, Wang Song, Liu Tie Jun, Leng Yan, Liu Zhi Yuan, Liu Lu, Xiong Zhuang
Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China.
The Affiliated Hospital of Changchun University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2025 Apr 2;12:1531437. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1531437. eCollection 2025.
The prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) continues to rise each year, posing a significant threat to people in their physical and mental health, as well as imposing a considerable economic burden on healthcare systems. Furthermore, physical activity (PA) is recognized as one of the effective strategies for the prevention of MASLD. However, the epidemiological evidence on the association between weekend warriors' (WWs) exercise modes and MASLD is inconsistent. The primary objective of this study was to further investigate the association between weekend warriors and the prevalence of MASLD using the NHANES database.
This study included a total of 4,671 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. PA questionnaires were used to assess participants' PA patterns, while vibration-controlled transient elastography (VECT) was used to assess the degree of hepatic steatosis, and other data were used to diagnose MASLD. Three distinct models were developed to compare the associations between various exercise patterns and the prevalence of MASLD through logistic regression, and to compare the differences between RA and WWs in the prevalence of MASLD.
There is a clear link between the involvement of WWs or RA participants and the lower prevalence of MASLD. In the final adjusted model, participants with a weekend warrior physical activity pattern (odds ratio [OR]: 0.511, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.373-0.701, = 0.00.6) and those in the regular activity population (OR: 0.621, 95% CI: 0.512-0.754, : 0.00.3) showed significantly lower risk ratios compared to individuals in the inactive and under-exercised populations, and this was statistically significant. Using the regular activity population as a reference, the risk of prevalence of MASLD in the weekend warrior group (OR: 0.857, 95% CI: 0.548-1.339, : 0.516) indicates that no statistically meaningful disparity was observed between the two groups.
In summary, our results demonstrate a significant correlation between WWs' activity patterns and their risk of MASLD, and they indicate that these patterns can improve MASLD with benefits comparable to those of RA. This provides additional options for individuals with MASLD who are unable to meet the recommended criteria in the exercise guidelines, along with treatment options for clinicians.
代谢功能障碍相关脂肪性肝病（MASLD）的患病率逐年持续上升，对人们的身心健康构成重大威胁，同时也给医疗系统带来了相当大的经济负担。此外，体育活动（PA）被认为是预防MASLD的有效策略之一。然而，关于周末战士（WWs）的运动模式与MASLD之间关联的流行病学证据并不一致。本研究的主要目的是利用美国国家健康与营养检查调查（NHANES）数据库进一步调查周末战士与MASLD患病率之间的关联。
本研究共纳入了来自NHANES数据库的4671名参与者。使用PA问卷评估参与者的PA模式，同时使用振动控制瞬时弹性成像（VECT）评估肝脏脂肪变性程度，并使用其他数据诊断MASLD。通过逻辑回归建立了三个不同的模型，以比较各种运动模式与MASLD患病率之间的关联，并比较规律活动者（RA）和周末战士在MASLD患病率上的差异。
周末战士或RA参与者的参与与较低的MASLD患病率之间存在明显关联。在最终调整模型中，具有周末战士体育活动模式的参与者（优势比[OR]：0.511，95%置信区间[CI]：0.373 - 0.701，P = 0.0006）和规律活动人群中的参与者（OR：0.621，95% CI：0.512 - 0.754，P = 0.0003）与不活动和运动不足人群中的个体相比，风险比显著更低，且具有统计学意义。以规律活动人群为参照，周末战士组中MASLD患病率的风险（OR：0.857，95% CI：0.548 - 1.339，P = 0.516）表明两组之间未观察到具有统计学意义的差异。
总之，我们的结果表明周末战士的活动模式与其患MASLD的风险之间存在显著相关性，并且表明这些模式可以改善MASLD，其益处与规律活动者相当。这为无法达到运动指南推荐标准的MASLD患者提供了额外的选择，也为临床医生提供了治疗方案。
