Results of subgroup analysis for the outcome: chronic kidney disease.

Subgroup analysis was planned a priori to assess the impact of the following items on the association between NAFLD and CKD: (1) Fulfilment of STROBE items: we planned to repeat the analysis after excluding studies not fulfilling each STROBE item (different STROBE items are described in footnote to Table 1). (2) Diabetes: studies including exclusively non-diabetic individuals versus studies including diabetic individuals. (3) Studies simultaneously adjusting versus studies not adjusting for all the following risk factors for CKD: age and BMI and metabolic syndrome (overall or each of its components) and hypertension and smoking. (4) Study design (population-based versus community-based). (5) Ethnicity (Caucasian versus Asian). (6) Studies including only non-cirrhotic patients versus studies including cirrhotic patients. (7) Studies using the CKD-EPI versus studies using the MDRD equation to estimate GFR. (8) Outcomes related to CKD: studies assessing both eGFR and proteinuria versus studies assessing either eGFR or proteinuria. (9) Type of data available: studies with IPD versus studies with AD.