Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease increases the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in young Korean adults

Aims: To investigate the impact of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD) on the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in young Korean adults. Methods: Data were sourced from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort, comprising adults aged 20–39 who underwent health examinations between 2009 and 2012. Participants were grouped based on the presence of MAFLD and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), both individually and in combination. The categorizations included Neither-FLD, NAFLD-only, MAFLD-only, or Both-FLD. Incident diabetes was identified through claims data during the follow-up period. Results: Among 6,232,656 participants, 676,747 (10.8 %) had MAFLD. During a median follow-up of 9.5 years, 182,291 incident diabetes cases were identified. Multivariate analysis revealed a significantly higher diabetes risk in the MAFLD group compared to those in the Non-MAFLD group (HR = 6.148, 95 % CI, 6.084–6.212). Notably, diabetes incidence was highest in FLI ≥ 60 subgroup with BMI ≥ 23 and metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: MAFLD is associated with a 6.1-fold increased diabetes risk in young adults, underscoring the urgent need for early intervention to mitigate this risk.