Objective To investigate the population distribution of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease before and after renaming and the association between the types of metabolic risk factors (MRF) for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and advanced liver fibrosis. Methods This study was conducted among 515 patients who were admitted to The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University and Wuxi Fifth People’s Hospital from January 2019 to January 2022 and had hepatocyte steatosis ≥5% by liver biopsy. Among these patients, 2 patients did not meet the diagnostic criteria for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), respectively, and were classified as steatotic liver disease (SLD) with other specific causes, and the other 513 patients were divided into MASLD group with 275 patients, comorbid group with 216 patients (MASLD comorbid with other liver diseases), and cryptogenic SLD group with 22 patients. The above groups were compared in terms of clinical features, laboratory markers, and advanced liver fibrosis. The MASLD patients with different types of MRF were compared in terms of clinical features, laboratory markers, and advanced liver fibrosis, and the risk factors for advanced liver fibrosis in patients with MASLD were analyzed. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of continuous data with skewed distribution between multiple groups and further comparison between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between multiple groups, and Bonferroni correction was used for further comparison between two groups. The logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors for liver fibrosis. Results Among the 515 patients with SLD, 297 patients (57.7%) met the diagnostic criteria for NAFLD, among whom 22 were classified as cryptogenic SLD and 275 met the diagnostic criteria for MASLD, and 467 (90.7%) were diagnosed with MAFLD. There were significant differences between the three groups in sex, body mass index (BMI), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, triglyceride, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS), fibrosis-4 (FIB-4), and F3-4 (all P<0.05). Compared with the MASLD group and the cryptogenic SLD group, the comorbid group had the highest proportion of patients with advanced liver fibrosis (P<0.001) . With the increase in the type of MRF, the patients tended to have an older age, a significantly higher proportion of female patients, a higher possibility of hypertension and diabetes, and higher levels of metabolic parameters including BMI, blood lipids, and blood glucose (all P<0.05) . With the increase in the types of MRF in MASLD patients, they tended to have significantly higher noninvasive fibrosis scores (NFS and FIB-4) and a significantly higher proportion of patients with advanced liver fibrosis (P<0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age ≥50 years (odds ratio [OR] =2.622, 95% confidence interval [CI] : 1.091—6.300, P=0.031) and the increase in the type of MRF (OR=1.876, 95%CI: 1.194—2.947, P=0.006) were independent risk factors for MASLD with severe liver fibrosis. Conclusion The new definition of MASLD is based on the positive identification of MRF, and the reclassified population of MASLD is smaller than that of MAFLD, with little difference from that of NAFLD. In addition, age ≥50 years and the increase in the type of MRF are independent risk factors for MASLD with advanced liver fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]