MSR38 Developing a Population-Level Disease Burden Model for Nash in the US: Methodological Challenges and Considerations

Abstract

Although the progression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has been described in several health economic models, the relationship with the population burden of disease is not well understood. In seeking to estimate a US population-level burden of disease model for NASH we confronted several methodological challenges: 1) the lack of robust incidence data in the literature; 2) the indolent nature of the early disease stages, and 3) decomposition of the humanistic burden into morbidity and mortality impacts. Our aim is to describe our approach to meeting these challenges. Another aim is to promote the simultaneous use of spreadsheet (Excel™) and script (R) modelling to provide validation and verification while facilitating model sharing.