Introduction: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease affecting 25% of Americans, and it is now the dominant cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). NAFLD prevalence is highest in Latinos (45%) and can climb as high as 70% among individuals with metabolic risk factors, such as diabetes and overweight/obesity. Little is known about the awareness and perceptions of the disease among Latino individuals at high risk. Methods: The goal of our study was to assess awareness of NAFLD as a disease entity among Latino individuals with and without metabolic risk factors in the community setting. We recruited participants who were constituents of faith-based organizations in the Los Angeles catchment area, which contains 9% of the nation’s Latino population. A self-administered 37-item paper questionnaire was collected from Latino adults from January to June 2019, available in Spanish and English. Results: The study population (n=195) was composed primarily of women (87% female, mean age of 45 years), and 35% had less than a high school education. Overall, 82% of participants had at least one known metabolic risk factor including overweight/obesity (77%), diabetes (25%), or high blood pressure (18%). Only 3% had received a prior diagnosis of NAFLD. Nearly half (47%) of participants were not aware of NAFLD, and the percentages were similar among participants with self-reported major risk factors of overweight/obesity, diabetes, or high blood pressure. Among participants who were aware of NAFLD, nearly all (96%) believe that it can cause a serious health problem, and the majority believe that it can be prevented (93%). Also, 57% of participants who were aware of NAFLD believe that they are at risk, and most (80%) were willing to undergo screening for NAFLD with either imaging or a blood test. The majority of participants believe that obesity (80%) and lack of exercise (78%) predispose to NAFLD, although a common misconception among participants was that NAFLD can be treated (53%). In logistic regression models, NAFLD awareness was associated with increasing level of education (P=0.046), and belief that one is at risk of NAFLD was positively associated with BMI (P=0.014). Conclusion: Within this high-risk population of Latinos, many of whom have at least one metabolic risk factor, a high percentage were unaware of NAFLD and many had misconceptions regarding risk factors and treatment options, suggesting that important knowledge gaps exist. NAFLD is a preventable liver disorder with limited treatment options, thus increasing awareness and knowledge may be key for early prevention strategies.

Citation Format: Shehnaz Hussain, Jane Figueiredo, Zulfikarali Surani. Awareness of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease among Latino participants of community-based health screening [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr C089.

©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.
2020
American Association for Cancer Research.