INASL-SAASL Consensus Statements on NAFLD Name Change to MAFLD

Abstract

There is an ongoing debate on the change of terminology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). Experts from the Indian National Association for Study of the Liver (INASL) and the South Asian Association for Study of the Liver (SAASL) involved in diagnosing, managing, and preventing NAFLD met in March 2022 to deliberate if the name change from NAFLD to MAFLD is appropriate, as proposed by a group of experts who published a "consensus" statement in 2020. Proponents of name change to MAFLD opined that NAFLD does not reflect current knowledge, and the term MAFLD was suggested as a more appropriate overarching term. However, this "consensus" group which proposed the name change to MAFLD did not represent the views and opinions of gastroenterologists and hepatologists, as well as perceptions of patients across the globe, given the fact that change of nomenclature for any disease entity is bound to have multidimensional impact on all aspects of patient care. This statement is the culmination of the participants' combined efforts who presented recommendations on specific issues concerning the proposed name change. The recommendations were then circulated to all the core group members and updated based on a systematic literature search. Finally, all the members voted on them using the nominal voting technique as per the standard guidelines. The quality of evidence was adapted from the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation system.

Keywords: South Asia; fatty liver; name change; stigma; terminology.

Graphical abstract