Special Report

Health and Economic Burden of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in the United States and Its Impact on Veterans

Fed Pract. 2019 January;36(1):14-19

References

1. Targher G, Bertolini L, Padovani R, et al. Prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and its association with cardiovascular disease among type 2 diabetic patients. Diabetes Care. 2007;30(5):1212-1218.

2. Targher G, Bertolini L, Rodella S, et al. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is independently associated with an increased prevalence of chronic kidney disease and proliferative/laser-treated retinopathy in type 2 diabetic patients. Diabetologia. 2008;51(3):444-450.

3. Adams LA, Harmsen S, St Sauver JL, et al. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease increases risk of death among patients with diabetes: a community-based cohort study. Am J Gastroenterol. 2010. 105(7):1567-1573.

4. Loomba R, Sanyal AJ. The global NAFLD epidemic. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2013;10(11):686-690.

5. Younossi ZM, Koenig AB, Abdelatif D, Fazel Y, Henry L, Wymer M. Global epidemiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease-meta-analytic assessment of prevalence, incidence, and outcomes. Hepatology. 2016;64(1):73-84.

6. Angulo P, Machado MV, Diehl AM. Fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: mechanisms and clinical implications. Semin Liver Dis. 2015;35(2):132-145.

7. Satapathy SK, Sanyal AJ. Epidemiology and natural history of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Semin Liver Dis. 2015;35(3):221-235.

8. Estes C, Anstee QM, Arias-Loste MT, et al. Modeling NAFLD disease burden in China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States for the period 2016-2030. J Hepatol. 2018;69(4):896-904.

9. Ahmed O, Liu L, Gayed A, et al. The changing face of hepatocellular carcinoma: forecasting prevalence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and hepatitis C cirrhosis. J Clin Exp Hepatol. 2018. In press.

10. Kanwal F, Kramer JR, Duan Z, Yu X, White D, El-Serag HB. Trends in the burden of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in a United States cohort of veterans. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;14(2):301-308.

11. Kabbany MN, Conjeevaram Selvakumar PK, Watt K, et al. Prevalence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-associated cirrhosis in the United States: an analysis of national health and nutrition examination survey data. Am J Gastroenterol. 2017;112(4):581-587.

12. Goldberg D, Ditah IC, Saeian K, et al. Changes in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, and alcoholic liver disease among patients with cirrhosis or liver failure on the waitlist for liver transplantation. Gastroenterology. 2017;152(5):1090-1099.

13. Beste LA, Leipertz SL, Green PK, Dominitz JA, Ross D, Ioannou GN. Trends in burden of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma by underlying liver disease in US veterans, 2001-2013. Gastroenterology. 2015;149(6):1471-1482.

14. Wong RJ, Aguilar M, Cheung R, et al. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is the second leading etiology of liver disease among adults awaiting liver transplantation in the United States. Gastroenterology. 2015;148(3):547-555.

15. Belli LS, Perricone G, Adam R, et al; all the contributing centers (www.eltr.org) and the European Liver and Intestine Transplant Association (ELITA). Impact of DAAs on liver transplantation: major effects on the evolution of indications and results. An ELITA study based on the ELTR registry. J Hepatol. 2018;69(4):810-817.

16. Flemming JA, Kim WR, Brosgart CL, Terrault NA. Reduction in liver transplant wait-listing in the era of direct-acting antiviral therapy. Hepatology. 2017;65(3):804-812.

17. Mittal S, Sada YH, El-Serag HB, et al. Temporal trends of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease-related hepatocellular carcinoma in the Veteran Affairs population. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015;13(3):594-601.

18. Mittal S, El-Serag HB, Sada YH, et al. Hepatocellular carcinoma in the absence of cirrhosis in United States veterans is associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;14(1):124-131.e1.

19. Sayiner M, Otgonsuren M, Cable R. Variables associated with inpatient and outpatient resource utilization among medicare beneficiaries with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with or without cirrhosis. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2017;51(3):254-260.

20. Younossi ZM, Zheng L, Stepanova M, Henry L, Venkatesan C, Mishra A. Trends in outpatient resource utilizations and outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2015;49(3):222-227.

21. Allen AM, Van Houten HK, Sangaralingham LR, Talwalkar JA, McCoy RG. Healthcare cost and utilization in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: real-world data from a large US claims database. Hepatology. 2018;68(6):2230-2238.

22. Younossi ZM, Blissett D, Blissett R, et al. The economic and clinical burden of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the United States and Europe. Hepatology. 2016;64(5):1577-1586.

23. Armstrong MJ, Hazlehurst JM, Parker R, et al. Severe asymptomatic non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in routine diabetes care; a multi-disciplinary team approach to diagnosis and management. QJM. 2014;107(1):33-41.

24. Ekstedt M, Franzén LE, Mathiesen UL, et al. Long-term follow-up of patients with NAFLD and elevated liver enzymes. Hepatology. 2006;44(4):865-873.

25. Kim D, Choi SY, Park EH, et al. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with coronary artery calcification. Hepatology. 2012;56(2):605-613.

26. Stepanova M, Younossi ZM. Independent association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease in the US population. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2012;10(6):646-650.

27. Targher G, Day CP, Bonora E. Risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. N Engl J Med. 2010;363(14):1341-1350.

28. Mir HM, Stepanova M, Afendy H, Cable R, Younossi ZM. Association of sleep disorders with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): a population-based study. J Clin Exp Hepatol. 2013;3(3):181-185.

29. Agrawal S, Duseja A, Aggarwal A, et al. Obstructive sleep apnea is an important predictor of hepatic fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in a tertiary care center. Hepatol Int. 2015;9(2):283-291.

30. Sookoian S, Pirola CJ. Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with fatty liver and abnormal liver enzymes: a meta-analysis. Obes Surg. 2013;23(11):1815-1825.

31. Armstrong MJ, Adams LA, Canbay A, Syn WK. Extrahepatic complications of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology. 2014;59(3):1174-1197.

Economic Burden

With such a heavy clinical burden and a projected increase in volume over the next decade, NAFLD is expected to have a similarly exponential impact on the economic burden. A review of 976 Medicare beneficiaries with NAFLD who were hospitalized from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010, noted a median annual total payment of about $11,000, with significantly lower payment for patients without cirrhosis compared with those with cirrhosis ($10,146 vs $18,804, P < .01).¹⁹ Another review of 29,528 Medicare beneficiaries with NAFLD who sought outpatient care between 2005 and 2010 saw a rise in mean yearly charges in 2005 of $2,624 ± 3,308 to $3,608 ± 5,132 in 2010 (P < .05).²⁰

To place these costs in perspective, Allen and colleagues reviewed a large national claims database of individuals enrolled with private and Medicare advantage health plans.²¹ Comparing patients with NAFLD with a control matched group with similar metabolic comorbidities the study revealed annual median outpatient care costs of $5,363 for the patients with NAFLD with Medicare advantage plans, which was significantly higher than $4,111 for the control group. Projection models based on similar Medicare beneficiaries estimate a rise in annual US economic burden to $103 billion from direct medical care costs alone and another $188 billion in societal costs related to NAFLD.²² New NASH/antifibrotic therapies are being evaluated in clinical trials and are expected to lead to even higher costs. Given the similarities in the trends of NAFLD prevalence between veterans and the general population, it is anticipated that a similar growth and burden in health care utilization cost will affect the VHA.

Association With Other Chronic Medical Conditions

NAFLD is closely associated with metabolic syndrome (Figure 3). Concurrent diagnosis of NAFLD in patients with existing T2DM is associated with poor glycemic control, progressive diabetic retinopathy, diabetic nephropathy, increased risk of cardiovascular complications, and a 2-fold increase in all-cause mortality.^1-3

Additionally, a significant number of asymptomatic individuals with T2DM have undiagnosed advanced NAFLD fibrosis.²³ NAFLD also is independently associated with new onset T2DM. In a 14-year follow-up study of biopsy-proven patients with NAFLD, 58% developed T2DM and another 20% developed impaired glucose tolerance.²⁴ Similarly, NAFLD is independently associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) after adjusting for known cardiovascular disease risk factors; furthermore, CAD is the leading cause of mortality among NAFLD patients.^1,25-27 Large population-based studies also have reported that obstructive sleep apnea is independently associated with NAFLD and is an independent risk factor for significant hepatic fibrosis among those with NAFLD.^28-30

Similar associations have been described between NAFLD and other metabolic conditions such as obesity, hypertension, hypothyroidism, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and chronic kidney disease.³¹ Identifying patients with NAFLD may help with screening for the above metabolic diseases because patients with NAFLD (by comparison with patients with non-NAFLD) are at higher risk for diabetic, cardiovascular, and pulmonary complications and may warrant a more intensive treatment approach.

Conclusion

A leading cause of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis in the US, NAFLD is independently associated with metabolic syndrome and all-cause mortality. The number of veterans with NAFLD is expected to grow significantly over the coming years given the ongoing epidemic of adult and childhood obesity and T2DM. It is associated with many other medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease and complications, incident metabolic diseases, and may progress to liver cirrhosis and cirrhosis associated complications like HCC and liver failure. The current lack of any approved drug treatment for NASH/fibrosis and the shortage of organs for liver transplant emphasize the need for comprehensive primary prevention measures to reduce the future health and economic costs associated with NAFLD.