{
  "abstract": "Background: Clinical studies confirm that patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) commonly experience a significant decline in quality of life (QOL). However, existing research findings on the efficacy of drug therapies in improving their QOL remain inconsistent, and quantitative evidence from meta-analyses is lacking. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the effectiveness of drug therapy in improving the QOL of patients with MAFLD.\n\nMethods: We systematically searched four electronic databases from their inception to 24 October 2025. All statistical analyses were performed using Review Manager software (version 5.4).\n\nResults: The meta-analysis revealed that drug intervention had a positive effect only on the Physical Component Summary (PCS) score (SMD: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.05–0.34, I ² = 0, p-heterogeneity = 0.45). Subgroup analysis indicated that the ≤12-month drug intervention group demonstrated improvement in the Physical Component Summary score (SMD = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.03–0.46, I ² = 0, p-heterogeneity = 0.26).\n\nConclusion: Moderate to very low-quality evidence indicates that pharmacological interventions yield a small, statistically significant improvement in the SF-36 PCS score in MAFLD patients, but this change does not meet the established minimal clinically important difference threshold for this population. To better elucidate the full impact of medications on patients’ QOL, future studies should prioritize comprehensive, multidimensional assessments of patient-reported outcomes, while remaining focused on hepatic pathology.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Public Health and Nursing, Hangzhou Normal University",
    "Department of Hepatology, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University"
  ],
  "article_type": "review article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sitian Zhao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Di Meng"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Chuyun Rao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Chunlan Liu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Binbin Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Junping Shi"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/eafm2h7de5kk6.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fphar.2026.1788802",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13725905/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "eafm2h7de5kk6",
  "issns": [
    "1663-9812"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2026.1788802/full",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Systematic Review"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2713|Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222927040",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2026.1788802/pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13725905",
  "pmid": "42974352",
  "published": "2026-10-19",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/eafm2h7de5kk6.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:06Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fphar.2026.1788802",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2026.1788802/full"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T15:20:51Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13725905",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13725905"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T15:20:48Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42974352",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42974352"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-05T12:22:21Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13725905",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2026.1788802"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2713|Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The role of pharmacotherapy in improving quality of life among patients with MAFLD: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials",
  "title_text": "The role of pharmacotherapy in improving quality of life among patients with MAFLD: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T12:21:59Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/eafm2h7de5kk6",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Pharmacology",
  "versions": []
}