Outcomes in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Outcomes in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
IRAS ID
157056
Contact name
Philip Newsome
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the commonest liver condition in the UK and other developed nations. It is closely associated with obesity, diabetes and hypertension and has been increasing in prevalence in parallel with these conditions. Whilst only a minority of patients with NAFLD develop significant liver disease, this still represents a large number of people given the increasing prevalence of NAFLD. Importantly, NAFLD is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and there is some evidence that it increases the risk of cancer. Patients with NAFLD therefore seem to be at risk of a number of adverse health related outcomes.
Despite being a common disease, there is a lack of data regarding the natural history of NAFLD. Our knowledge at present is based on small series of patients without good data on outcomes other than liver disease. At University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) we have a large specialist NAFLD clinic which I established several years ago. This cohort represents a unique group of patients and would be the largest reported natural history cohort to date. The purpose of this data request is to record data from this group of patients including outcome data on them recorded on other databases.
The data will be used to describe the prevalence of particular outcomes that have been associated with NAFLD, and to analyse risk factors at baseline that might predict liver-related, cardiovascular and cancer-related morbidity and mortality.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0007
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jan 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion