The Growing Burden of Disability Related to Chronic Liver Disease in the United States: Data From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2007-2017

Chronic liver disease (CLD) causes significant morbidity and mortality in the United States with regional variations. Comparable and consistent state-level measures of CLD-related morbidity and disability among U.S. states have not been well studied. Our aim was to assess the CLD burden within the United States between 2007 and 2017 based on the most common causes of CLD: hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV), alcoholic liver disease (ALD), and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The Global Burden of Disease database was used for the years 2007-2017. International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, codes were used to identify liver cancer (LC) and cirrhosis. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were computed by the summation of years of life lost and years lived with disability. All rates reported here were age-standardized rates per 100,000 population. In 2017, there were 167,324 incident CLDs, 21% from LC and 79% from cirrhosis; this number was 30% higher than in 2007. The highest rate increases were seen in Kentucky, New York, and Pennsylvania. In 2017, there were 90,046 CLD-related deaths, which was 34% higher than in 2007. Highest rank increases were seen in Kentucky, Montana, and Washington. The rate of CLD incidence and death due to NAFLD was higher than other causes of CLD. In 2017, CLD caused 2.33 million DALYs, which was 27% higher than in 2007 and was mainly driven by HCV (37.2%), ALD (27.7%), and NAFLD (10.6%). California, Texas, and Florida had the highest DALYs; however, the highest CLD-DALY rates per 100,000 population were seen in New Mexico, District of Columbia, and Oklahoma. Conclusion: The CLD-related burden is increasing in the majority of U.S. states at an unprecedented rate. The impact of this burden on individual states is heterogeneous, and there are important disparities among states that merit further investigation.