Table 2.

The potential of non-invasive liver fibrosis tests as an alternative to liver biopsy

	NITs a suitable alternative to liver biopsy		NITs useful only as an adjunct to biopsy		NITs not useful
	2014–2015	2021	2014–2015	2021	2014–2015	2021
Assessing aetiology (n)	4.7% (10)	9% (10)	27% (58)	31.5% (35)	65.1% (140)	59.8% (66)
Assessing treatment response (n)	49.8% (107)	42.9% (48)	20.6% (44)	34.8% (39)	29.7% (64)	22.3% (25)
Guiding treatment decisions (n)	54% (116)	56.2% (63)	37.7% (81)	32.1% (36)	6.5% (14)	10.7% (12)
Prognosis assessment (n)	64.2% (138)	79.5% (89)	26.5% (57)	13.4% (15)	6.5% (14)	5.4% (6)
Assessment of fibrosis stage (n)	82.8% (178)	93.7% (105)	13.5% (29)	6.3% (7)	2.3% (5)	0% (-)

215 responses received from survey 1 in 2014–2015; 112 responses received from survey 2 in 2021. These were the denominators used for respective surveys. Not all participants responded to each modality stated in question.

NITs, non-invasive tests.