High Global Prevalence of Steatotic Liver Disease and Associated Subtypes: A Meta-analysis

Steatotic liver disease (SLD) encompasses various forms of hepatic steatosis and has become a significant global health concern. Despite its growing burden, a comprehensive understanding of its prevalence is lacking. Thus, this meta-analysis aims to provide a detailed estimation of the global prevalence of SLD and its subtypes.

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted, examining studies published between January 2023 and August 2024 from MEDLINE and EMBASE that reported on the prevalence of SLD and its subtypes.

A total of 44 studies encompassing 11,282,575 participants were included. Among them, 3,826,283 individuals were diagnosed with SLD. The pooled global prevalence of SLD was 37.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 31.4%-44.1%; I² = 99.8%). Subtype analysis showed a prevalence of 33.6% (95% CI, 28.1%-39.5%; I² = 99.9%) for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, 4.1% (95% CI, 3.1%-5.3%; I² = 100%) for metabolic alcohol-related liver disease, and 2.2% (95% CI, 1.5%-3.1%; I² = 98.0%) for alcohol-related liver disease in the population. Prevalence was notably elevated in individuals with type 2 diabetes (70.2%; 95% CI, 66.1%-73.9%; I² = 65.4%) and in overweight/obese populations (70.7%; 95% CI, 43.2%-88.4%; I² = 99.0%).

The high prevalence of SLD shows that there remains an urgent need for targeted public health interventions and policies to address the modifiable risk factors contributing to the global burden of SLD.