Hayward, KL;
McKillen, BJ;
Horsfall, LU;
McIvor, C;
Liew, K;
Sexton, J;
Johnson, AL;
... Powell, EE; + view all
(2022)
Towards collaborative management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (TCM-NAFLD): a 'real-world' pathway for fibrosis risk assessment in primary care.
Internal Medicine Journal
, 52
(10)
pp. 1749-1758.
10.1111/imj.15422.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: The optimal strategy to support primary care practitioners (PCPs) to assess fibrosis severity in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and thereby make appropriate management decisions remains unclear. AIMS: We aimed to examine the feasibility of using a 2-step pathway that combined simple scores (NAFLD Fibrosis Score and Fibrosis-4 Index) with transient elastography (FibroScan®) to streamline NAFLD referrals from a 'routine' primary care population to specialist hepatology management clinics (HMC). METHODS: The 2-step "Towards Collaborative Management of NAFLD" (TCM-NAFLD) fibrosis risk assessment pathway was implemented at two outer metropolitan primary healthcare practices in Brisbane. Patients aged ≥18 years with a new or established PCP-diagnosis of NAFLD were eligible for assessment. The pathway triaged patients at "high risk" of clinically significant fibrosis to HMC for specialist review, and "low risk" patients to receive ongoing management and longitudinal follow-up in primary care. RESULTS: A total of 162 patient assessments between Jun-2019 and Dec-2020 were included. Mean age was 58.7 ± 11.7 years, 30.9% were male, 54.3% had type 2 diabetes or impaired fasting glucose, and mean body mass index was 34.2 ± 6.9 kg/m2 . 122 patients were considered "low risk" for clinically significant fibrosis, two patients had incomplete assessments, and 38 (23.5%) were triaged to HMC. Among 31 completed HMC assessments to date, 45.2% were considered to have clinically significant (or more advanced) fibrosis, representing 9.2% of 153 completed assessments. CONCLUSION: Implementation of the 2-step TCM-NAFLD pathway streamlined hepatology referrals for NAFLD and may facilitate a more cost-effective and targeted use of specialist hepatology resources. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Towards collaborative management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (TCM-NAFLD): a 'real-world' pathway for fibrosis risk assessment in primary care |
| Location: | Australia |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/imj.15422 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.15422 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, collaborative care, liver fibrosis, primary care, referral pathway, risk assessment |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine > Inst for Liver and Digestive Hlth |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10131632 |
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