From NAFLD to MAFLD: Nurse and allied health perspective

Abstract

Fatty liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction is the most prevalent liver disease worldwide, though both patient and health professional still lack awareness of it. An international consensus panel has produced what is sure to be an influential report renaming the disease from non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and suggesting how the disease should be diagnosed. This viewpoint explores the call from the perspective of nurse and allied health practitioners. This group have raised serious concerns on the existing nomenclature, which labels the disease as NAFLD, and its diagnostic criteria, including provoking nurse role confusion and representing a major barrier to various key aspects; patient‐nurse communications, patient awareness, partnership working, motivation of patients to undertake lifestyle changes and multiple health behaviour change promotion and nurse‐led clinics. Therefore, they are enthusiastically supportive of this call to reframe the disease that we believe will ultimately have a positive impact on nurse‐patient communication, and through this, improve patient care and quality of life and reduce burden on health system.

Comparing the Diagnostic Criteria of MAFLD and NAFLD in the Chinese Population: A Population-based Prospective Cohort Study

“…Since the MAFLD consensus was proposed in early 2020, it has received a lot of support from experts, liver associations, nurses, and patient advocacy groups. [16][17][18][19] They all agreed to rename NAFLD to MAFLD. At present, the Association for the Study of the Liver in Latin America, Asia, Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa have published clinical practice guidelines for MAFLD based on the characteristics of the local population.…”

MAFLD considerations as a part of the global hepatitis C elimination effort: an international perspective

“…[98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108] However, others have suggested to retain the NAFLD name/acronym, and they argued that there is an ambiguity of the term "metabolic", and the change can lead to some confusion for stakeholders and may have potential impediment of drug development and regulatory approvals. 109 Recent study has showed that this is unlikely to be the case, as the change from NAFLD to MAFLD led to increased awareness of fatty liver disease in primary care physicians and specialists. 104 Thus, although there is evidence that MAFLD is highly prevalent, it is very likely that these data under-rather than over-estimate the actual magnitude of the disease because the previous diagnostic criteria of NAFLD are based on the exclusion of other liver diseases.…”

Editorial: International Consensus Recommendations to Replace the Terminology of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) with Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD)

“…In Mexico, the lack of awareness of MAFLD by physicians has been associated with misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment and has underestimated the serious consequences of this disease [ 12 ]. There has been a high level of acceptance of the new name among patients [ 13 ], primary care physicians [ 14 ], nurses, and allied health professionals [ 15 ]. This acceptance of the use of MAFLD as a medical term may be due to its clinical relevance and its value in clinical communication [ 15 ].…”