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American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 143, No. 9: 936-942
Copyright © 1996 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

research-article

Alcoholism, Hepatitis B and C Viral Infections, and Impaired Liver Function among Taiwanese Aboriginal Groups

Chen-Yang Shen1, Hsuan-Shu Lee2, Lu-Chin Huang3, Keh-Sung Tsai4, Ding-Shinn Chen2 and Andrew T. A. Cheng1,

1Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica Taipei, Taiwan
2Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital Taipei, Taiwan
3Department of Internal Medicine, Buddhist Tzu-Chi General Hospital Hualien, Taiwan
4Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital Taipei, Taiwan

Reprint requests to Dr. Andrew Cheng, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sincia, Taipei 11529, Taiwan

Viral hepatitis and alcoholism prevail in four major Taiwanese aboriginal groups. To study the relative importance of the acquisition of hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus infection and alcoholism to the presence of impaired liver function in these groups, the authors conducted a semistructured clinical interview for alcoholism and test for seromarkers for viral hepatitis among 993 cohort members enrolled in 1990–1992 in an ongoing prospective study (Taiwan Aboriginal Study Project). The subjects' blood specimens were tested for serum alanine aminotransferase/aspartate aminotransferase levels and for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen and anti-hepatitis C virus antibody. The prevalence of a combination of an alanine aminotransferase level of >35 IU/liter and an aspartate aminotransferase level of >40 IU/Liter, implying impaired liver function or advanced liver disease, was 4.3% overall. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis showed that, rather than chronic hepatitis B virus infection, hepatitis C virus infection and alcoholism were the two dominant risk factors that signalled the risk of liver damage among these Taiwanese aborigines. In addition, these two contributing factors were able to act synergistically to cause impaired liver function. Am J Epidemiol 1996;143:936–42.

alanine aminotransferase; alcoholism; aspartate aminotransferase; hepatitis B virus; hepatitis C viruses


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