Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Male Sex are Risk Factors for Colorectal Adenoma: a Retrospective Analysis

Although the causes of colorectal adenoma have been well characterized in other populations, this study is the first to investigate the risk factors for colorectal adenoma in a Peruvian population.

This is an observational, retrospective, case-control study of patients who underwent colonoscopy at the gastroenterology service of a large hospital in northern Peru between 2015 and 2020. Two groups of 138 patients were selected based on colorectal adenoma diagnosis. Gender, age, and the presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and dyslipidemia were compared between groups to calculate risk factors for colorectal adenoma. These are known risk factors in other populations.

Among the measured factors, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and male sex were found to be associated with colorectal adenoma (OR 3.3, 95% CI Interval 1.8-6.1 for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and OR 2.2 95% CI 1.3-3.6 for male sex). Other socio-medical characteristics did not reach statistical significance. Furthermore, no significant differences in location, number, size, endoscopic classification, histology or presence of advanced adenoma were observed when comparing patients diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with patients without this condition.

This study suggests that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and male sex are positively associated with the diagnosis of colorectal adenoma in Peruvians. This suggests the need for more careful screening of these demographics.