Study design and participants

Individuals were recruited from the Jidong Community (Tangshan City, Northern China) which mainly comprised employees of the Jidong Co. Ltd. and their family members. From July 2013 to August 2014, a total of 9078 residents aged 20 years and older were invited to participate in the study at the time of their regular annual physical examination performed at the Jidong Oilfield Hospital. Residents who are willing to provide informed consents were included in the study. Among 9,078 participants, 3,035 subjects aged 40 years and above, who had complete information of coronary MSCT, abdominal ultrasound and medical history, were selected and 258 individuals who had a history of cardiovascular disease (including myocardial infarction, heart failure, atrial fibrillation or any other heart disease), stroke, and cancer, 333 subjects with excessive alcohol consumption (≥20 g/day for men and 10 g/day for women for more than a year) and 99 with positive HbsAg were excluded. Finally 2,345 participants were included in the analysis (Fig. 1).