Blood mercury concentrations are associated with decline in liver function in an elderly population: a panel study

Table 2 Estimated association of log transformed liver enzyme and blood total mercury using GEE model

Mercury	AST		ALT		GGT
Mercury	Estimate	p-value	Estimate	p-value	Estimate	p-value
Q1	Ref		Ref		Ref
Q2	0.01 (0.02)	0.733	0.04 (0.03)	0.204	0.04 (0.03)	0.201
Q3	0.03 (0.03)	0.228	0.04 (0.03)	0.184	0.08 (0.04)	0.044
Q4	0.07 (0.03)	0.027	0.12 (0.04)	0.002	0.12 (0.04)	0.008

Covariates: sex, age, smoking status, drinking status, exercise, education, high-density lipoproteins cholesterol, overweight and calorie
Abbreviations: ALT Alanine transaminase, AST aspartate aminotransferase, GEE generalized estimating equations, GGT Gamma-glutamyl transferase, Q quartile: 1^st Q (<2.50 for men, <1.86 for women), 2^nd Q (2.50 ≤ and <3.77 for men, 1.86 ≤ and <2.59 for women), 3^rd Q (3.77 ≤ and <5.41 for men, 2.59 ≤ and <3.53 for women), 4^th Q (≥5.41 for men, ≥3.53 for women)

ISSN: 1476-069X