Prevalence of Significant and Advanced Hepatic Fibrosis in Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD)

Abstract Background: There are several reports on the prevalence of metabolic dysfunction associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in the general population. But the fibrosis burden of MAFLD in general population is largely unknown. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of significant and advanced fibrosis associated with MAFLD in a health check-up cohort.Materials and methods: Participants who underwent magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) at nationwide thirteen health check-up centers were included in this cross-sectional study. Fatty liver was evaluated using ultrasonography. Significant (≥F2) and advanced (≥F3) hepatic fibrosis were defined by MRE thresholds of 3.0 kPa (range: 2.99–3.65 kPa) and 3.6 kPa (range: 3.4–3.9 kPa), respectively. The sex- and age-standardized prevalence of MAFLD and hepatic fibrosis were estimated.Results: Total 6,775 health check-up adults included analysis. The sex- and age-standardized prevalence of MAFLD was 33.9%. Prevalence of MAFLD was higher in males than in females, and increased with age. The prevalence of diabetes in MAFLD was 13.3%, and 73.6% of subjects with diabetes had MAFLD. The sex- and age-standardized prevalence of significant (≥F2) and advanced hepatic fibrosis (≥F3) was 9.7% (range: 3.0–9.8%) and 3.0% (range: 2.6–4.6%), respectively, in MAFLD subjects. The prevalence of advanced hepatic fibrosis in diabetic with MAFLD 9.5% (range: 7.5–12.7%).Conclusion: The sex- and age-standardized prevalence of advanced fibrosis was 3.0% (range: 2.6–4.6%) in subjects with MAFLD, respectively.