Burden of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, with and without metabolic syndrome, obesity, or diabetes

BACKGROUND: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is commonly comorbid with metabolic syndrome; however, MASH can occur in the absence of metabolic syndrome. This retrospective cohort study evaluated the patient characteristics, healthcare utilization, and healthcare costs among patients with MASH with and without metabolic syndrome, obesity, and type 2 diabetes/elevated fasting glucose. METHODS: In a linked dataset of electronic health records (Veradigm Network EHR) and claims (Komodo Health), we identified adults with a MASH diagnosis code (7/1/2018-3/15/2023) and ≥12 months of continuous enrollment pre- and post-MASH diagnosis. Patients with other causes of liver disease, gestational or type 1 diabetes, or bariatric surgery were excluded. Six cohorts were identified: 1) MASH with metabolic syndrome, 2) MASH without metabolic syndrome, 3) MASH with body mass index (BMI)