Epidemiology of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease/metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis and associated cardiometabolic factors in adults in China (2013-2023): A systematic review and meta-analysis
Shang-Yu Chai, Ru-Ya Zhang, Yi-Man Zheng, Value & Implementation Global Medical & Scientific Affairs, MSD China, Shanghai 200233, China
Gail Fernandes, Value & Implementation Outcomes Research, MRL, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ 19454, United States
Lai Wei, Hepatopancreatobiliary Center, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing 102218, China
Lai Wei, Key Laboratory of Digital Intelligent Hepatobiliary Medicine (Tsinghua University), Ministry of Education, Beijing 102218, China
Author contributions: Chai SY, Zhang RY, and Wei L conceived, designed, and planned the study; Chai SY collected and assembled the data, performed and supervised analyses, and wrote the initial draft; Chai SY, Zhang RY, Fernandes G, Zheng YM, and Wei L interpreted the results; Chai SY and Zheng YM obtained funding. All authors provided substantive suggestions for revision or critically reviewed, reviewed and approved final version of the paper, and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Supported by the funding from MSD, China.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Wei L consults for Hiskynedical, BI, Gilead, Kaiyin, MSD, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Roche and VirsiRNA, Speaker for Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, and receives research grants from Amoytop, AZ, Gilead, Kaiyin, Pfizer and Sanofi; Chai SY, Zhang RY, and Zheng YM are employees of MSD China; Fernandes G is an employee of Merck & Co, Inc., Rahway, NJ, United States, and hold stocks/stock options.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Lai Wei, MD, PhD, Hepatopancreatobiliary Center, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua University, No. 168 Litang Road, Changping District, Beijing 102218, China.
weilai@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
Received: August 29, 2025
Revised: September 23, 2025
Accepted: October 31, 2025
Published online: December 14, 2025
Processing time: 103 Days and 4.1 Hours
