There is limited data on the diagnostic performance of fibrosis scoring systems in the diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

A study was thus designed to ascertain the risk factors of NAFLD and to assess the diagnostic performance of noninvasive fibrosis scoring systems.

Consecutive patients presenting with dyspepsia between January 2017 and January 2019 were included in the study. Clinicodemographic and laboratory parameters including HOMA-IR were measured and anthropometric measurements were performed. NAFLD was diagnosed with the help of ultrasonography. The FIB4, NAFLD, BARD, and Nippon scores were also calculated.

In all, 1008 patients were included in the study with mean age 52.3 ± 15 years in the NAFLD group (25.8%) and 36.7 ± 15.7 years in the non-NAFLD group (74.2%). The frequency of NAFLD was noted as 25.8%. The independent risk factors for NAFLD included age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus (DM), platelet count, HbA1c, HDL, ALT, and AST/ALT ratio. The most sensitive and specific tests to diagnose NAFLD included HOMA-IR and Nippon score, respectively.

It was thus concluded that age, BMI, diabetes mellitus, HbA1c, platelet count, HDL, ALT, and AST/ALT ratio independently predicted NAFLD and that the most specific and sensitive predictors of the presence of NAFLD included Nippon score and HOMA-IR value, respectively.

Source: Bayrak M. Non-invasive diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: impact of age and other risk factors. Aging Male. 2020 May 12:1-8.