Title

Validation of the BARD scoring system for fibrosis detection in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Authors

Kamrul Anam^1,*, Shahinul Alam², Harun Rashid³, Sabbir Hossain⁴, Tanveer Rahman⁵, Nazmul Haque⁶ & Rofiqul Islam⁵

Affiliation

¹Department of Gastroenterology, National Gastroliver Institute and Hospital, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh, South Asia; ²Department of Hepatology, Bangladesh Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, South Asia; ³Department of Hepatology, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College, Gazipur, Bangladesh, South Asia; ⁴Department of Hepatology, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, South Asia; ⁵Department of Hepatology, Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, South Asia; ⁶Department of Gastroenterology, 250 Bedded General Hospital Pabna, Bangladesh, South Asia; *Corresponding author

Email

Kamrul Anam - E-mail: mkanam024@yahoo.com
Shahinul Alam - E-mail: shahinul67@yahoo.com
Harun Rashid - E-mail: drmdharunm35@gmail.com
Sabbir Hossain - E-mail: sabbir48@gmail.com
Tanveer Rahman - E-mail: tanveer.17kmc@gmail.com
Nazmul Haque - E-mail: dr.nazmulhaquermc@gmail.com
Rofiqul Islam - E-mail: smairofiq@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received October 1, 2025; Revised October 31, 2025; Accepted October 31, 2025, Published October 31, 2025

Abstract

The diagnostic performance of the BARD scoring system in detecting significant fibrosis (≥F2) among Bangladeshi patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD is of interest. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 40 adult NAFLD patients at Bangladesh Medical University, Dhaka. Liver fibrosis was staged histologically from biopsy specimens. The BARD score was calculated for each patient and its diagnostic accuracy was evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and ROC curve analysis. Clinical and biochemical predictors of fibrosis were also assessed. Among the cohort, 45% had significant fibrosis (F2–F4). The BARD score demonstrated a sensitivity of 83.3%, specificity of 86.4%, positive predictive value of 83.3%, negative predictive value of 86.4% and an AUROC of 0.908 (p < 0.001). A strong positive correlation was observed between BARD score and fibrosis stage (r = 0.736). Multivariate analysis identified BMI ≥28 kg/m² as an independent predictor of significant fibrosis (OR 17.53, p = 0.022). The BARD score is a reliable noninvasive tool for identifying significant liver fibrosis in Bangladeshi NAFLD patients, facilitating early risk stratification and management in resource-limited settings.

Keywords

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), BARD, fibrosis, biopsy

Citation

Anam et al. Bioinformation 21(10): 3703-3709 (2025)

Edited by

Neelam Goyal & Shruti Dabi

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.