‘Alarming’ age, racial disparities seen in liver disease-related mortality during pandemic
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WASHINGTON — Age-standardized mortality rates for alcohol-associated liver disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease increased the most among the young and non-Hispanic whites, Blacks and Native Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During the pandemic, we saw several significant phenomena,” Yee Hui Yeo, MD, an internal medical resident at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said during The Liver Meeting media briefing, including an “increased mortality rate for alcohol use-related disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.”
To determine the impact of the pandemic on alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) and NAFLD, Yeo and colleagues evaluated data from 626,090 deaths related to chronic liver disease between 2010 and 2021 using CDC WONDER of the National Vital Statistic System. They estimated age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) and predicted mortality for 2020 to 2021 based on trends from 2010 to 2019.
According to analysis, the annual percentage change (APC) in chronic liver disease-related deaths increased from 3.5% (2010-2019) to 17.6% (2020-2021). Further, ASMR was “significantly higher” than predicted for both ALD and NAFLD-related deaths in 2020 (15.67 vs. 13.04 and 3.11 vs. 2.64, respectively) and 2021 (17.42 vs. 13.41 and 3.44 vs. 2.8).
By race and ethnicity, researchers observed the highest rise in ASMR among Alaska Indians/Native Americans (18%), non-Hispanic whites (11.7%) and Blacks (10.8%) for ALD, with the steepest increases among Hispanics (13.1%), non-Hispanic Asians (12.9%), non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic Blacks (both 11.9%), and American Indians/Alaska Natives (10.9%).
By age, those in the 25 to 44 year-age group had the highest rise in ASMR for ALD (34.6%) compared with the 45 to 64 year-age group (13.7%) and those older than 65 years (12.6%). This increase was observed mainly among the youngest age group for NAFLD (APC = 28.1%).
“The increasing trend has been quite alarming and with that we were able to show that there is an age disparity and ethnic and racial disparity,” Yeo said.
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Yeo YH, et al. Abstract 130. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality rate of liver disease in the United States: A population-based study, 2010-2021. Presented at: The Liver Meeting; Nov. 4-8, 2022; Washington (hybrid).
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