Toggle Main Menu Toggle Search

Open Access padlockePrints

Health-related quality of life in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A cross-cultural study between Spain and the United Kingdom

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Luke ValeORCiD, Tomos Robinson, Professor Quentin AnsteeORCiD

Downloads


Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

© 2024 Funuyet-Salas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background It is unclear what biopsychosocial factors influence the impact of NAFLD on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and if these factors are equally important predictors between different nationalities. Methods HRQoL (CLDQ) was measured in both Southern European (Spain, n = 513) and Northern European (United Kingdom -UK-, n = 224) cohorts of patients with NAFLD in this cross-sectional study. For each cohort, participant data were recorded on histological grade of steatohepatitis, stage of fibrosis and biopsychosocial variables. Regression analysis was used to explore which of these variables predicted HRQoL. Moderated mediation models were conducted using SPSS PROCESS v3.5 macro. Results Participants with severe fibrosis reported more fatigue, systemic symptoms and worry, and lower HRQoL than those with none/mild fibrosis, regardless of place of origin. In addition, body mass index (BMI) and gender were found to be significant predictors of HRQoL in both Spanish and UK participants. Female gender was associated with worse emotional function, higher BMI and more fatigue, which predicted lower participants’ HRQoL. UK participants showed more systemic symptoms and worry than Spanish participants, regardless of liver severity. The negative effects of gender on HRQoL through emotional function, BMI and fatigue were reported to a greater degree in UK than in Spanish participants. Conclusions UK participants showed a greater impairment in HRQoL as compared to Spanish participants. Higher fibrosis stage predicted lower HRQoL, mainly in the Spanish cohort. Factors such as female gender or higher BMI contributed to the impact on HRQoL in both cohorts of patients and should be considered in future multinational intervention studies in NAFLD.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Funuyet-Salas J, Martin-Rodriguez A, Perez-San-Gregorio MA, Vale L, Robinson T, Anstee QM, Romero-Gomez M

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: PLoS ONE

Year: 2024

Volume: 19

Issue: 5

Print publication date: 01/05/2024

Online publication date: 06/05/2024

Acceptance date: 24/02/2024

Date deposited: 20/05/2024

ISSN (electronic): 1932-6203

Publisher: Public Library of Science

URL: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300362

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300362

Data Access Statement: Data cannot be shared publicly because the Ethics Committee of the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital of Seville and the NHS HRA North East –Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee have imposed restrictions on sharing data set for ethical reasons of privacy and confidentiality. Data are available from the LITMUS Study Cohort of the European NAFLD Registry (contact via all@litmus-project.es) for researchers who meet the criteria for access to confidential data. The data underlying the results presented in the study are available from all@litmus-project.es.

PubMed id: 38709751


Altmetrics

Altmetrics provided by Altmetric


Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
777377European Commission
European NAFLD Registry
EU Horizon 2020 programme
European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)
European Union
Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)
Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI2) Program
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación—Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Newcastle NIHR Biomedical Research Centre
PSI2017-83365-P

Share