Effects of Interventions for Improving Awareness and Knowledge of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Among Chinese Young Adults for Prevention of Liver Cancer—A Randomized Controlled Trial

Chinese young adults (CYA), who are at an increasing risk of developing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which in turn increases the risk of liver cancer, are an ideal target population to deliver educational interventions to improve their awareness and knowledge of NAFLD and consequently reduce their risk of developing NAFLD. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of two interventions to improve awareness and knowledge of NAFLD among CYA for the prevention of liver cancer. Between May and July 2021, 1373 undergraduate students aged 18 to 25 years in one university in China completed a web-based, self-administered survey distributed through WeChat app. One week after completion of the baseline survey, all eligible participants were randomly assigned to a pamphlet, a video intervention, or no intervention (control group), with follow-up assessments immediately and 1-month post-intervention. The 7-page pamphlet or 6.5-min video had information on NAFLD. Self-assessments included NAFLD awareness, lean NAFLD awareness, and knowledge scores of NAFLD. About 26% of participants had NAFLD awareness at baseline. Compared with controls, participants in both interventions showed significant improvement of awareness of NAFLD (pamphlet, + 46.0%; video, + 44.3%; control, + 18.7%; OR [95% CI], 3.13 [2.19–4.47] and 2.84 [1.98–4.08]), awareness of lean NAFLD (pamphlet, + 41.2%; video, + 43.0%; control, + 14.5%; OR [95% CI], 2.84 [1.62–4.99] and 2.61 [1.50–4.54]), and knowledge score of NAFLD (pamphlet, + 64.2%; video, + 68.9%; control, − 1.0%; OR [95% CI], 1.62 [1.47–1.80] and 1.67 [1.50–1.86]) at immediately post-intervention. Delivering NAFLD education through a pamphlet or video intervention was effective in improving the awareness and knowledge of NAFLD among CYA.