Association between Insulin Resistance and BARD Fibrosis Risk Score in Women with Metabolic Dysfunction Associated with Steatotic Liver Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54133/ajms.v10i1.2760Keywords:
APRI index, BARD score, FIB-4, HOMA-IR, Indulin resistance, MASLDAbstract
Background: The prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is rising, and its association with insulin resistance (IR) is well established. In many settings, liver biopsy and elastography are not universally available; therefore, simple noninvasive scores are used to estimate fibrosis risk. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between IR and non-invasive fibrosis risk scores in women with ultrasonography-identified MASLD. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, adult women with MASLD underwent fasting glucose and insulin testing to estimate HOMA-IR. Fibrosis risk was evaluated using the BARD score, APRI, and FIB-4. Group comparisons, correlation analyses, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, and multivariable models were performed. Results: HOMA-IR was significantly higher in women classified as high fibrotic risk by the BARD score (n = 96). HOMA-IR correlated positively with BARD and APRI but showed weak association with FIB-4. In multivariable analysis, higher BARD scores remained independently associated with higher HOMA-IR. Conclusions: Insulin resistance was independently associated with higher noninvasive fibrosis risk in women with MASLD, particularly as assessed by the BARD score. These findings support the clinical utility of simple scores for risk stratification where access to advanced testing is limited.
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