Alcohol and MASLD up as causes of death from liver disease, hepatitis C down
Deaths from alcohol-related liver disease and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) were already on the rise before they increased steeply during the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent study found.
Deaths from liver disease related to alcohol use or metabolic syndrome have been on the rise since before the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent study found.
The study used data from the National Vital Statistics System to analyze deaths from chronic liver disease among those ages 25 years and older in the U.S. from 2015 to 2023. Results were published as a research letter by Annals of Internal Medicine on April 29.
Deaths from alcohol-related liver disease were on the rise before the COVID-19 pandemic (quarterly percentage change [QPC], 0.9%) but increased sharply during the early pandemic, (QPC, 9.1%) before declining (QPC, −1.4%). Similarly, age-standardized mortality related to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) steadily increased before the pandemic (QPC, 2.5%) and then accelerated (QPC, 7.8%), with an overall steeper increase (QPC, 2.1%) than seen for alcohol-related mortality (QPC, 1.0%). Mortality related to hepatitis C virus trended down both before (QPC, −2.5%) and after the pandemic (QPC, −3.0%).
Limitations of the study include potential inaccuracies from using ICD-10 codes to determine the cause of death. “This study emphasizes the importance of establishing clinical pathways that provide uninterrupted care to persons with [chronic liver disease] during a future pandemic or other public health crises,” said the study authors.