Methods: Participants from the Coronary Artery Risk Development selleck in Young Adults study (Y25 exam; age 43-55 years) with concurrent CT quantification of liver fat and self report of previous diagnosis of fatty liver were included (n=2,712). NAFLD was defined as liver attenuation ≤
51 Hounsfield units after exclusion of other causes of liver fat (medication/alcohol use and HIV/Hepatitis C). Chi-squared and logistic regression analyses were used to assess associations. Results: Mean participant age was 50.6 (4.0) years with 293 (57.7%) female and 299 black (49.7%) participants. Mean BMI was 30.6 (7.1) kg/m2. NAFLD prevalence was 23.8%, however only 15/646 (2.3%) participants with CT-de-fined NAFLD were aware of a NAFLD diagnosis. see more Even when the definition was broadened to include any self-reported liver disease, only 34 (5.3%), reported knowing that they had fatty liver despite CT findings. NAFLD aware participants were more likely to be white (80.0% vs. 53.1%, p=0.04) and have the metabolic syndrome (93.3% vs. 59.1%) and hypertension (80.0% vs. 50.6%) than NAFLD unaware participants (p<0.05 for both). There were no significant differences in age, sex, alcohol intake, physical activity, medication use, diabetes status, waist circumference, education or income level between NAFLD aware and unaware groups. In multi-variable analyses adjusted for demographics,
presence of the metabolic syndrome was associated with NAFLD awareness (OR=10.7, 95% CI: 1.38-82.8). However, the overall prevalence of NAFLD awareness even among metabolic syndrome participants remained low (3.6%). In sensitivity analyses using self-report of any liver Succinyl-CoA disease (n=34) this association did not change. Conclusion: There is a low awareness of fatty liver in individuals with fat on imaging, which persists even among those with metabolic risk factors who are at the highest risk of severe liver disease. These findings highlight an opportunity to raise public and practitioner awareness
of NAFLD, particularly among those at high metabolic risk, and to provide education to patients and practitioners with the goal of increasing diagnosis, implementing early treatment strategies and optimizing care. Disclosures: Mary E. Rinella – Advisory Committees or Review Panels: Gilead The following people have nothing to disclose: Lisa B. VanWagner, Hongyan Ning, Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, Cora E. Lewis, Miriam B. Vos