Chronic hepatitis B virus infection in Eastern Ethiopia: Clinical characteristics and determinants of cirrhosis

Table 4 Baseline biochemical, serologic, and virological data of patients with chronic hepatitis B, by cirrhosis status, Harar, Eastern Ethiopia

Variables	All patients, n = 193	No cirrhosis, n = 133	Cirrhosis, n = 60	P value
WBC as 106/L	5.9 (4.1-7.7)	6.5 (4.9-7.8)	4.2 (3.0-6.3)	<0.001a
Hemoglobin in g/L	14.7 (12.4-16.6)	15.5 (13.8-16.9)	11.8 (10.0-15.2)	< 0.001a
Platelet count as 109/L1				<0.001a
Median (IQR)	218 (119-294)	253 (184-344)	118 (54-180.3)
< 150, n (%)	60 (32.1)	20 (15.7)	40 (66.7)
≥ 150, n (%)	127 (67.9)	107 (84.3)	20 (33.3)
ALT (U/L)2				0.033a
Median (IQR)	36 (23-58)	35 (22-52)	45 (27-84)
< 40, n (%)	96 (52.5)	70 (55.6)	26 (45.6)
≥ 40, n (%)	87 (47.5)	56 (44.4)	31 (54.4)
AST as IU/L3				0.016a
Median (IQR)	40 (29-65)	36 (28-57)	51 (34-81)
< 40, n (%)	90 (49.5)	67 (53.6)	23 (40.4)
≥ 40, n (%)	92 (50.5)	58 (46.4)	34 (59.6)
Creatinine in mg/dL4				0.750
Median (IQR)	0.8 (0.6-1.0)	0.8 (0.6-1.0)	0.8 (0.6-1.0)
≤ 1.2, n (%)	150 (90.4)	101 (91.0)	49 (89.1)
> 1.2, n (%)	16 (9.6)	10 (9.0)	6 (10.9)
APRI score5				< 0.001a
Median (IQR)	0.52 (0.29-1.35)	0.38 (0.26-0.70)	1.53 (0.66-2.84)
< 1.5, n (%)	136 (77.7)	108 (91.5)	28 (49.1)
≥ 1.5, n (%)	39 (22.3)	10 (8.5)	29 (50.9)
FIB-4 score6				< 0.001a
Median (IQR)	1.06 (0.60-1.98)	0.85 (0.55-1.41)	1.93 (1.03-4.08)
≤ 3.25, n (%)	142 (82.6)	106 (90.6)	36 (65.5)
> 3.25, n (%)	30 (17.4)	11 (9.4)	19 (34.5)
HBeAg7				0.001a
Negative, n (%)	105 (78.9)	80 (87.9)	25 (59.5)
Positive, n (%)	28 (21.1)	11 (12.8)	17 (40.5)
HBV viral load in IU/mL8				< 0.001a
Median (IQR)	677 (135-7580)	486 (105-2863)	2843 (313-805407)
< 2000, n (%)	114 (64.4)	91 (72.2)	23 (45.1)
2000-19999, n (%)	24 (13.6)	15 (11.9)	9 (17.6)
≥ 20000, n (%)	39 (22.0)	20 (15.9)	19 (37.3)

^aP < 0.05.

¹A total of 6 missing values, of whom none had cirrhosis.

²A total of 10 missing values, of whom 3 had cirrhosis.

³A total of 11 missing values, of whom 3 had cirrhosis.

⁴A total of 27 missing values, of whom 3 had cirrhosis.

⁵A total of 18 missing values, of whom 3 had cirrhosis.

⁶A total of 21 missing values, of whom 5 had cirrhosis.

⁷A total of 60 missing values, of whom 18 had cirrhosis.

⁸A total of 16 missing values, of whom 9 had cirrhosis. ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; APRI: Aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; FIB-4: Fibrosis-4; HBeAg: Hepatitis B envelope antigen; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; IQR: Interquartile range; WBC: White blood cell count.