Patients with MASH experience worse health-related quality of life: a multinational real-world study using LiverMultiScan.
Elizabeth Shumbayawonda, Megh Utsav, Marika Hancock et al.
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In 30 seconds
This multinational real-world randomised controlled trial examined health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and liver MRI markers in 802 people with suspected MASLD/MASH across four European countries. Participants completed EQ-5D-5L assessments over 12 months. In the imaging arm, those meeting MRI criteria for MASH reported worse HRQoL across all EQ-5D dimensions and lower overall health scores than those with MASLD; the association persisted after adjustment for key metabolic comorbidities. An 80ms increase in corrected T1 was associated with a 0.023-point decrease in EQ-5D utility (p = 0.039).
Key findings
- Within the imaging arm, MASH was associated with lower HRQoL across all EQ-5D dimensions and EQ-VAS than MASLD, including after adjustment for comorbidities.
- An 80ms increase in corrected T1 was associated with a 0.023-point decrease in EQ-5D utility (p = 0.039).
- Patients with high-risk MASH reported up to 12% more complaints across EQ-5D dimensions than other participants.
- Increasing corrected T1 was associated with 29% higher odds of reporting anxiety/depression.
Why it matters
The findings link an imaging marker of liver disease severity with patient-reported burden, suggesting that disease assessment based only on metabolic comorbidities may not capture differences in lived health status. Such relationships may inform economic evaluations and help characterize patient burden when considering risk stratification, while the observational associations do not establish that imaging-guided management improves outcomes.
What to keep in mind
Twelve-month response rates varied across sites (22-81%) because of COVID-19, and the reported HRQoL differences by MASH status were within the imaging arm; no differences in HRQoL were found between study arms.