Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence

Department

Computer Science

Committee Chair and Members

Nicolas Gallo

Abstract

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a condition that describes the spectrum of disease and liver injury attributed to the consumption of alcohol. ALD diagnosis is heavily dependent on alcohol use, making it challenging to test for, as alcohol use is often self-reported, and early-stage ALD can present asymptomatically. This study aims to explore how social determinants of health associated with alcohol use behaviors predict ALD-related liver stress risk. MEC participants included in the two two-year cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2014-2014 and 2015-2016, were assigned liver stress labels based on clinical thresholds for ALD diagnosis. Survey-weighted ordinal logistic regression revealed statistically significant negative associations between income-to-poverty-ratio (F_1,11=14.9, p< 0.003), employment status (F_1,11= 14.6, p< 0.003), and gender (F_1,11= 23.9, p < 0.005), with ALD-related liver stress risk among U.S. adults aged 20 years and older. In contrast, education (F_4,11= 4.95, p< 0.016), race (F_5,11= 5.17, p < 0.012), and age (F_1,11= 101, p < 0.001) had positive associations. When adjusted for clustering, income-to-poverty-ratio (F_1,7=12.4, p< 0.01), and gender (F_1,7=18.2, p < 0.004) were negatively associated with ALD-related liver stress risk among U.S. adults aged 20 years and older. In contrast, education (F_4,7= 7.63, p< 0.011), race (F_5,7= 4.44, p < 0.039), and age (F_1,7= 98.3, p < 0.001), were positively associated; Cluster profiles showed no statistically significant association with ALD-related liver stress.

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