In March, a new roundtable titled “ACSM International Multidisciplinary Roundtable Report on Physical Activity and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease” was published in Hepatology Communications. Roundtables and other specialty conferences are developed and supported by the Science Integration and Leadership Committee at ACSM. They provide a mechanism in which the college can develop statements often in collaboration with other organizations on an important topic. In this statement, 21 national and international representatives from 18 organizations globally convened to participate based on their clinical and research expertise to evaluate the evidence for physical activity as a means of preventing or modifying the course of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
The authors of the paper conducted a scoping review to map the scientific literature and identify key concepts, research gaps and evidence available to inform clinical practice, policymaking and research. The new statement addresses three major areas, including (a) the role of physical activity in NAFLD pathogenesis; (b) screening, advising and counseling adult patients with NAFLD about physical activity; and (c) providing physical activity recommendations to adult patients with NAFLD.
Jon Stine, roundtable co-chair, states the report reflects the hard work, dedication and lifelong commitment of an incredible talented group of international experts who seek to promote regular physical activity in all patients with NAFLD as a means to lessen the tremendous public health burden from this common condition, which affects one-third of adults worldwide.
“This report sets the ACSM roundtable statement to follow,” says Stine, “which will include 30 evidence-based consensus statements derived using a modified Delphi approach by the international panel of scientific experts. It is our hope that these consensus recommendations will be disseminated and used widely to guide every interaction between patients with NAFLD and their healthcare providers.”
Penn State Health Fatty Liver Program Director Jonathan G. Stine, M.D., M.Sc., FACP, and ACSM Past President Kathryn H. Schmitz, Ph.D., MPH, FACSM, FTOS, served as co-chairs.
Additional authors included Robert E. Sallis, M.D.; Michelle Long, M.D.; Kathleen Corey, M.D., MPH; Alina Allen, M.D.; Shelly Keating, Ph.D.; Matthew Armstrong, MrCP, Ph.D.; Dan Cuthbertson, Ph.D.; David E. Conroy, Ph.D.; Andres Duarte-Rojo, M.D., Ph.D.; Kate Hallsworth, Ph.D.; Ingrid Hickman, Ph.D.; Matthew Kappus, M.D.; Christopher Pugh, Ph.D.; Mary Rinella, M.D.; Yaron Rotman, M.D.; Tracey L. Simon, M.D., MPH; Eduardo Vilar-Gomez, M.D., Ph.D.; and Vincent Wong, M.D.