Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Steatotic liver disease, previously known as fatty liver disease, is the most common liver condition, affecting about 1 in 3 adults. It starts with a build-up of fat in the liver, which can lead to severe, irreversible, and sometimes life-threatening damage. In 2023, classifications of SLD were changed to consider both metabolic health and alcohol use. Now, SLD is grouped into 3 categories based on alcohol intake: minimal use (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)), moderate use (metabolic dysfunction-associated alcohol-associated liver disease (MetALD)), and significant use (alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD)). Since these changes, few studies have looked at how these new categories are associated with the risk of death and current research is inconsistent and lacks consideration of the impact of sex. This study aims to explore how the new categories predict the risk of death and how alcohol use and metabolic health factors work together to affect the risk of death. This study will use data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging which tracks the health of Canadians aged 45-85 across seven provinces. The data includes participants age, sex, liver fat content, alcohol use, physical activity, diet, medical history, and death records. Using statistical methods, the study will analyze how alcohol use and metabolic health interact and influence the risk of death, while exploring if the relationships change by age and sex. This study will fill an important knowledge gap on how categories of SLD affect the risk of death in Canadians which can inform clinical practices and health policies. With SLD on the rise, this research is essential to reducing the burden and improving the quality of life of those affected by SLD in Canada.