Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis diagnosis and treatment from the perspective of patients and primary care physicians: a cross-sectional survey

Background: The global prevalence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is rising. Despite this, NASH is underdiagnosed and does not yet have approved pharmacological treatments. We sought to understand the path to diagnosis, patient interactions with healthcare professionals, treatment regimens, and disease management for patients with NASH.

Methods: Cross-sectional online surveys of patients with a self-reported diagnosis of NASH and healthcare professionals treating patients with NASH were conducted from 10^th November 2020, to 1st January 2021. This manuscript focuses on responses from 152 patients with NASH and 101 primary care physicians (PCPs).

Results: Patients (n = 152, mean age = 40, SD = 11) and healthcare professionals (n = 226) were located throughout the US. In the most common patient journey, 72% of patients had initial discussions about symptoms with a PCP but only 30% report receiving their NASH diagnosis from a PCP. Almost half of PCPs (47%) were not aware of any clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis and management of NASH. For ongoing management of NASH, PCPs most frequently prescribed lifestyle changes such as exercise (89%), lifestyle changes focused on diet (79%), and/or metformin (57%). Other healthcare professionals rarely referred patients to PCPs for treatment, but when they did, the primary reasons were patients struggling with lifestyle modifications (58%), needing to lose weight (46%), and needing treatment of comorbidities (42%).

Conclusions: PCPs may benefit from greater awareness of NASH and guidelines for its diagnosis and treatment. Given the absence of pharmacological treatments approved for NASH, PCPs can offer support in obesity management, comorbidity management, and risk stratification for liver disease progression.