Study IDs Trends in 2015 to 2023 Mortality for Chronic Liver Disease

THURSDAY, May 8, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Distinct trends were seen in etiology-based mortality with chronic liver disease (CLD) before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a research letter published online April 29 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Donghee Kim, M.D., Ph.D., from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, and colleagues estimated mortality trends for etiology-based CLD in the United States before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic (2015 to 2023). CLD deaths were analyzed in persons aged 25 years and older to explore mortality trends for alcohol-related liver disease (ALD)-, hepatitis C virus (HCV)-, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)-related mortality.

The researchers found that quarterly age-standardized ALD-related mortality increased before the pandemic (quarterly percentage change [QPC], 0.9 percent), then increased sharply during the early pandemic period, with a QPC increase of 9.1 percent. There was a subsequent decline, with a QPC of −1.4 percent. Before the pandemic, there was a steady increase in quarterly age-standardized MASLD-related mortality (QPC, 2.5 percent), which accelerated during the early pandemic period (QPC, 7.8 percent). Before the pandemic, quarterly age-standardized HCV-related mortality declined steadily (QPC, −2.5 percent), then remained relatively stable during the early pandemic period, followed by a further decrease in the late pandemic period (QPC, −3.0 percent). The increasing trend in MASLD-related mortality was steeper than that of ALD-related mortality (average QPC, 2.1 versus 1.0 percent).

“This study emphasizes the importance of establishing clinical pathways that provide uninterrupted care to persons with CLD during a future pandemic or other public health crises,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text