Management Concepts of Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) Among Chinese Physicians

NCT07682363 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: DAS-8853U1111-1336-6265
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 470
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study is a cross-sectional survey-based study. The main goal of this study is to investigate the attitudes, perceptions, and clinical practice in assessing liver fibrosis following a metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) diagnosis, and the management of MASLD patients among Chinese physicians in the departments of endocrinology / hepatology / infection / gastroenterology in Grade IIIA hospitals in provincial capitals or municipalities.

Conditions

Liver Disease

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• To investigate attitudes and perceptions concerning the reasons for further severity assessment (mainly refers to the assessment of liver fibrosis) following a MASLD diagnosis

  The reason for severity assessment will be measured via questionnaires. The corresponding questionnaire items were designed to explore whether physicians would conduct further evaluation for patients diagnosed with MASLD and what dimensions such further evaluation would cover. Details of the questions are shown below: 1. For patients with confirmed MASLD, will you perform additional diagnostic evaluation? (Single choice) * Yes, I will conduct subsequent assessment and risk stratification * No, a confirmed MASLD diagnosis is sufficient. 2. For physicians who selected "Yes": What dimensions will your additional diagnostic evaluation cover? (Multiple choices) * Rule out other liver diseases * Assess metabolic comorbidities and risk factors * Identify whether the patient has concurrent MASH * Determine the stage of liver fibrosis * Others, please specify

  At the data capture (Day 1)

• Methods used for diagnose liver fibrosis

  Methods used for liver fibrosis diagnosis will be assessed via questionnaires. The corresponding questionnaire items asked physicians to select the examinations they use to assess the stage of liver fibrosis in patients with MASLD. For physicians who perform liver fibrosis staging: Among patients with confirmed MASLD, which of the following tools do you use in routine clinical practice to evaluate liver fibrosis stage? Available response options include FibroScan, FibroTouch, Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE), fibrosis-specific serological tests (e.g., PIIINP, C-IV, LN, HA), simple scoring systems (e.g., FIB-4, NFS, APRI), and others (please specify).

  At the data capture (Day 1)

• To find percentages of patients who undergo different liver fibrosis examination

  Percentages of patients who undergo different liver fibrosis examination will be measured via questionnaires. The corresponding questionnaire items asked physicians to report the proportion of patients with MASLD for whom they utilize each liver fibrosis assessment method in routine clinical practice. For each selected examination tool, physicians report the proportion of patients receiving the test in their daily clinical work using predefined categories (≤10%, 10%-25%, 25%-50%, 50%-75%, and 75%-100%).

  At the data capture (Day 1)

• To find reasons for insufficient liver fibrosis assessment

  This will be assessed via questionnaires. The corresponding questionnaire items investigate whether physicians believe there is insufficient liver fibrosis assessment in current clinical practice. Those who answer affirmatively are then asked to select contributing factors. For patients with confirmed MASLD, physicians are asked: do you think liver fibrosis assessment is currently inadequate in clinical practice? If yes, what are the leading causes of insufficient fibrosis evaluation? Physicians can select from predefined causes, including clinicians paying insufficient attention to liver fibrosis evaluation, low patient acceptance rate of liver biopsy, low diagnostic accuracy of existing noninvasive fibrosis assessment tools, lack of effective pharmacotherapies for liver fibrosis, and others (please specify). There is also an option indicating that there is no inadequate liver fibrosis assessment in clinical practice, which is mutually exclusive with the other options.

  At the data capture (Day 1)

• To investigate importance order of the reasons for insufficient liver fibrosis assessment

  This will be measured via questionnaires. The corresponding questionnaire items investigate whether physicians believe there is insufficient liver fibrosis assessment in current clinical practice. Those who answer affirmatively are then asked to rank the contributing factors in order of importance. For the selected causes of insufficient fibrosis evaluation, physicians rank each factor based on its importance in contributing to inadequate liver fibrosis assessment in clinical practice.

  At the data capture (Day 1)

Study Arms (1)

Physicians treating MASLD

The survey will be conducted via 15-minute online questionnaire survey of 30 specialists in the departments of endocrinology, hepatology, infection, and gastroenterology.

Other: No treatment is given

Interventions

No treatment is given OTHER

This study is a cross-sectional survey-based study. The design is observational and descriptive. Collection of data will be performed via a quantitative online survey.

Physicians treating MASLD

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Physicians from department of endocrinology, hepatology, gastroenterology, department of infectious diseases, and from Grade IIIA hospitals located in provincial capitals will be enrolled to take the survey.

You may qualify if:

• Has provided informed consent.
• Registered clinical practice location in provincial capital or municipality.
• Physician with a license for clinical practice.
• Employed in the Department of Endocrinology, Hepatology, Infection or Gastroenterology.
• Hospital level: Grade IIIA hospital.
• Hold a professional title of associate chief physician or above, or senior attending physician (as an attending physician for more than or equal to (≥) 3 years).
• Conducts outpatient clinics for at least 1 half-days per week.
• The patient load of MASLD/MASH per month in the department should be:
• a. Endocrinology ≥20 patients per month
• b. Hepatology/Gastroenterology/ Infectious ≥30 patients per month

You may not qualify if:

• Participants will be excluded if they have unwillingness precluding adequate cooperation, fail to complete the questionnaire, or submit questionnaires verified as invalid.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Novo Nordisk A/S: lead

Study Sites (1)

Novo Nordisk Investigational site

Beijing, China

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Liver Diseases

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Digestive System Diseases

Study Officials

• Clinical Transparency (dept. 2834)

  Novo Nordisk A/S

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Novo Nordisk

CONTACT

(+1) 866-867-7178; clinicaltrials@novonordisk.com

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: OTHER
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: INDUSTRY
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 11, 2026
• First Posted: July 2, 2026
• Study Start: June 3, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 23, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 23, 2027
• Last Updated: July 2, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share

Locations

CN (1)