The Association of Metabolic-associated Fatty Liver Disease with Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction. Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome (MS). MAFLD patients have a higher prevalence of COVID-19. MAFLD is also associated with worse clinical outcomes of COVID-19, such as disease severity, ICU admission rate, and higher mortality rates. However, this evidence has not been well characterized in the literature. This meta-analysis aims to determine the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 among MAFLD patients compared to the non-MAFLD group. Methods. A comprehensive search was conducted in CINAHL, PubMed/Medline, and Embase for studies reporting MAFLD prevalence among COVID-19 patients and comparing clinical outcomes such as severity, ICU admission, and mortality among patients with and without MAFLD. We calculated the pooled prevalence of MAFLD among COVID-19 patients. Also, the pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for clinical outcomes of COVID-19. Results. Twenty observational studies met inclusion criteria involving 13,036 overall study participants, including 2,374 MAFLD patients. The prevalence of COVID-19 among MAFLD patients was 0.28 (95% CI: 0.19-0.39). MAFLD was associated with the COVID-19 disease severity OR: 2.61 (95% CI: 1.77-3.83). Similarly, MAFLD was associated with an increased risk of ICU admission compared to the non-MAFLD group OR: 1.46 (95% CI: 1.12-1.91). Lastly, the association between MAFLD and COVID-19 mortality was not statistically significant OR: 1.25 (95% CI: 0.66-2.37). Conclusions. There was a higher prevalence of MAFLD among COVID-19 patients than the non-MAFLD group. Moreover, MAFLD patients had an increased risk of COVID-19 disease severity and ICU admission rate.