Researchers call for more flexible editorial conduct
Researchers call for more flexible editorial conduct rather than abruptly adopting only the new MASLD nomenclature
To the Editors:
Since many of us participated in the multi-society Delphi consensus statement on fatty liver disease nomenclature, we were interested in a recent article by Younossi and colleagues investigating potential stigma among patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and among healthcare providers. The authors concluded that the perception of NAFLD stigma varied among patients, providers, geographic locations, and sub-specialties. Of particular interest, only 8% of patients and 38% of doctors perceived stigma with use of the term. European patients more commonly (57%) reported being comfortable with either term, with many selecting “fatty liver disease”. Of note, while the Asia-Pacific region is home to 60% of the world’s population, only 5% of the study population was from this region. Furthermore, only 48% of patients ever disclosed their disease to family members, a proportion which is not different from other diseases.