Statistical Brief Explores Trends in Hospitalizations With a Diagnosis of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Data collected through AHRQ’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) has found an 88.1 percent increase in the number of inpatient stays with a nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) diagnosis from 2016 to 2022. A new statistical brief, Inpatient Stays Related to Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, 2016-2022 (PDF, 548 KB), identifies how NAFLD co-occurred among other diagnoses, and the subpopulations most impacted. NAFLD was most frequently a secondary diagnosis and NAFLD-diagnosed patients were more likely to have comorbidities than other patients. 

The brief also highlights the most common principal diagnoses associated with these stays and provides additional details on affected patients.