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Abstract Details
European 'NAFLD Preparedness Index' - Is Europe ready to meet the challenge of fatty liver disease?
JHEP Rep. 2021 Jan 21;3(2):100234. doi: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2021.100234. eCollection 2021 Apr.
Jeffrey V Lazarus1, Adam Palayew2, Patrizia Carrieri3, Mattias Ekstedt4, Giulio Marchesini5, Katja Novak6, Vlad Ratziu7, Manuel Romero-Gómez8, Frank Tacke9, Shira Zelber-Sagi10, Helena Cortez-Pinto11, Quentin M Anstee1213
Author information
1Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
2McGill University Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, Montreal, Canada.
3Aix Marseille Université, INSERM, IRD, SESSTIM, Sciences Economiques et Sociales de la Santé et Traitement de l'Information Médicale, Marseille, France.
4Division of Diagnostics and Specialist Medicine, Department of Health, Medicine, and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
5IRCCS-AOU Bologna, and Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, 'Alma Mater' University, Bologna, Italy.
6University Medical Center Ljubljana, Department of Gastroenterology, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
7Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, Department of Hepatology University Paris, Paris, France.
8UCM Digestive Diseases, CIBEREHD, and IBIS, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
9Charité University Medicine Berlin, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Berlin, Germany.
10University of Haifa, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel.
11Clínica Universitária de Gastrenterologia, Laboratório de Nutrição, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
12Translational & Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
13The Liver Unit and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Abstract
Background & aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is closely associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes, is a highly prevalent emerging condition that can be optimally managed through a multidisciplinary patient-centred approach. National preparedness to address NAFLD is essential to ensure that health systems can deliver effective care. We present a NAFLD Preparedness Index for Europe.
Methods: In June 2019, data were extracted by expert groups from 29 countries to complete a 41-item questionnaire about NAFLD. Questions were classified into 4 categories: policies/civil society (9 questions), guidelines (16 questions), epidemiology (4 questions), and care management (12 questions). Based on the responses, national preparedness for each indicator was classified into low, middle, or high-levels. We then applied a multiple correspondence analysis to obtain a standardised preparedness score for each country ranging from 0 to 100.
Results: The analysis estimated a summary factor that explained 71.3% of the variation in the dataset. No countries were found to have yet attained a high-level of preparedness. Currently, the UK (75.5) scored best, although falling within the mid-level preparedness band, followed by Spain (56.2), and Denmark (43.4), whereas Luxembourg and Ireland were the lowest scoring countries with a score of 4.9. Only Spain scored highly in the epidemiology indicator category, whereas the UK was the only country that scored highly for care management.
Conclusions: The NAFLD Preparedness Index indicates substantial variation between countries' readiness to address NAFLD. Notably, even those countries that score relatively highly exhibit deficiencies in key domains, suggesting that structural changes are needed to optimise NAFLD management and ensure effective public health approaches are in place.
Lay summary: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is closely associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes, is a highly prevalent condition that can be optimally managed through a multidisciplinary patient-centred approach. National preparedness to address NAFLD is essential to allow for effective public health measures aimed at preventing disease while also ensuring that health systems can deliver effective care to affected populations. This study defined preparedness as having adequate policies and civil society engagement, guidelines, epidemiology, and care management. NAFLD preparedness was found to be deficient in all 29 countries studied, with great variation among the countries and the 4 categories studied.