Economic Impact of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) in Italy. Analysis and Perspectives.

Background

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a multisystem condition destined to become pandemic in the coming decades. This study aimed at evaluating the economic impact of MASLD in the Italian population from the Italian National Healthcare Service (NHS) perspective.

Methods

The economic impact of the MASLD was assessed by developing a calculation model in Microsoft Excel

Results

Based on an estimated 11,546,370 MASLD target population, an annual illness impact of €12,251,631,822 was calculated, corresponding to a difference of €7,731,674,054 compared with the same sample size without MASLD. Moreover, the MASLD population is expected to experience 13,438 additional deaths annually.

Conclusion

The growing epidemiological impact of MASLD and its complications represent a huge economic burden for healthcare services worldwide. An integrated approach, including changes in lifestyle behaviors, will be the first step. Specific drugs for MASLD are not yet available; however, studies are underway, and combined pharmaceutical therapies may be an inevitable choice to achieve adequate control of MASLD and its complications.

Informations de copyright

© 2024 Torre et al.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in this work.