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Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of mortality in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Our aim was to assess the association of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk scores with overall and cardiac‐specific mortality among patients with NAFLD. We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III with the National Death Index‐linked mortality files. NAFLD was defined by ultrasound as presence of steatosis in the absence of secondary causes of liver disease. High risk for CVD was defined as a 10‐year ASCVD score ≥7.5%. Hazard ratios (HRs) and population‐attributable fractions (PAFs) of high risk for CVD were calculated. Among 1,262 subjects with NAFLD (47.9% men; 41.2% white; mean age, 56.3 years), the prevalence of high risk for CVD was 55.9% and 4.8% had advanced fibrosis. After a median follow‐up of 17.7 years, 482 subjects (38.2%) died of overall causes, of whom 382 (79.3%) had a high risk for CVD. The unadjusted overall and cardiac‐specific mortality were higher for patients with NAFLD who had a high risk for CVD compared to subjects with NAFLD with a low risk for CVD (57.3% vs. 16.8% for overall mortality; 16.4% vs. 3.5% for cardiovascular mortality). After controlling for risk factors associated with mortality, high risk for CVD was associated with a 42% higher overall mortality rate (adjusted HR [aHR], 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05‐1.91) and twice the risk of cardiovascular mortality (aHR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.12‐3.65). Adjusted PAFs were 11.4% for overall mortality and 44.9% for cardiovascular mortality. Conclusion: Among patients with NAFLD, ASCVD score ≥7.5% was associated with a higher risk of overall and cardiac‐specific mortality. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of mortality in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey‐III with the National Death Index‐linked Mortality Files to assess the association of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk scores with overall and cardiac‐specific mortality among patients with NAFLD. Among NAFLD patients, ASCVD score ≥7.5% was associated with a higher risk of overall and cardiac‐specific mortality.

IN BRIEF Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an increasingly recognized and common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Although most patients with NAFLD are obese, a smaller group of NAFLD patients are lean. This study explored the long-term outcomes of lean patients with NAFLD in the United States. Compared to lean individuals without NAFLD, lean people with NAFLD were significantly more likely to be older and male and had higher comorbidities (i.e., diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease). The presence of NAFLD in lean individuals was independently associated with increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

Hospice offers non-curative symptomatic management to improve patients' quality of life, satisfaction, and resource utilization. Hospice enrollment among patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) is not well studied. The aim of tis tudy is to examine the characteristics of Medicare enrollees with CLD, who were discharged to hospice. Medicare patients discharged to hospice between 2010 and 2014 were identified in Medicare Inpatient and Hospice Files. CLDs and other co-morbidities were identified by International Classification of Diseases-ninth revision codes. Generalized linear model was used to estimate regression coefficients with P-values. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. A total of 2,179 CLD patients and 34,986 controls without CLD met the inclusion criteria. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, and hepatitis C virus (HCV) were the most frequent cause of CLD. CLD patients were younger (70 vs. 83 years), more likely to be male (57.7 vs. 39.3%), had longer hospital stay (length of stay, LOS) (19.4 vs. 13.0 days), higher annual charges ($175,000 vs. $109,000), higher 30-day re-hospitalization rates (51.6 vs. 34.2%), and shorter hospice LOS (13.7 vs. 17.7 days) than controls (all P<0.001). Presence of HCV and congestive heart failure were the strongest contributors to increased total annual costs (34% and 31% higher, P<0.001), increased total annual LOS (26% and 43% higher, P<0.001), and increased 30-day readmission risk (2.20 and 2.19 times, respectively). Patients with CLD have longer and costly hospitalizations before hospice enrollment as compared with patients without CLD. It was highly likely that these patients were enrolled relatively late, which could potentially lead to less benefit from hospice.