The crosssectional
nature of our study allows the evaluation of associations
only. Furthermore, the use of electronic medical records to define the
presence or absence of DM and hypertension may have led to some
patients being misclassified. With regard to the NFS, the relatively
small number of patients with advanced fibrosis in the non-diabetic
group may impact on the test performance of the NFS, in particular
the positive predictive value.