Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42549144›Full record

ArticleQatar medical journal2026

Diagnostic accuracy of the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index for advanced liver fibrosis in Qatari patients with MASLD: Comparison with liver biopsy and FibroScan.

Moataz Derbala, Ibrahim M Obeidat, Raya Abualsuod, Mahmoud Draidi, Nagah Selim, Jihene Maatoug, Alaa Elkalamawi

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Article in Qatar medical journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Moataz DerbalaGastroenterology and Hepatology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Ibrahim M ObeidatGastroenterology and Hepatology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Raya AbualsuodInternal Medicine Department, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Mahmoud DraidiInternal Medicine Department, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Nagah SelimCommunity and Preventive Medicine Department, Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Jihene MaatougCommunity and Preventive Medicine Department, Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Alaa ElkalamawiEpidemiology- Medicine, Lincoln University, Kota Bharu, Malaysia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Metabolically-dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is highly prevalent in populations with metabolic risk factors, and the liver fibrosis stage is the main determinant of long-term outcomes. The Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index is widely recommended as a first-line noninvasive test for fibrosis risk stratification; however, its diagnostic performance may vary across populations. Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the FIB-4 index for detecting advanced liver fibrosis in Qatari residents with MASLD, using liver biopsy as the primary reference standard and FibroScan as a secondary comparator. Methodology: This retrospective, cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study included adults with MASLD evaluated at Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar between January 2023 and December 2024. FIB-4 was calculated from routine laboratory parameters, and fibrosis was staged using the METAVIR (Meta-Analysis of Histological Data in Viral Hepatitis) scoring system. It is a histological scoring system used to grade necroinflammatory activity (A0-A3) and stage liver fibrosis (F0-F4). Advanced fibrosis was defined as METAVIR stage ≥F3. Diagnostic performance metrics and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) were calculated at established cut-offs. Results: A total of 117 patients were included; 74 patients (63.2%) underwent liver biopsy, and 91 patients (77.7%) underwent FibroScan assessment. Advanced fibrosis was present in 21 patients (17.9%) on biopsy. At a FIB-4 cut-off of 1.3, sensitivity and specificity for detecting advanced fibrosis were 66.7% and 67.9%, respectively, compared with liver biopsy, with an overall accuracy of 67.6% and a negative predictive value of 83.7%. The AUROC for FIB-4 was 0.76. Conclusion: FIB-4 can be used as a first-line, accountable screening tool, followed by another confirmatory tool in high-risk patients.

Indexed as

accuracyFIB-4FibroScanFibrosis-4 indexliver biopsyMASLD

Identifiers

PMID42549144
PMCPMC13430814

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.