Photo Credit: Mohammed Haneefa Nizamudeen

Research published in Liver Transplantation describes estimates of the decrease in mortality risk associated with improvements in the Liver Frailty Index (LFI), which investigators say can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions targeting frailty in cirrhosis. Jennifer C. Lai, MD, MBA, and colleagues sought LFI cut points associated with waitlist mortality in a study of 1,029 patients (median age, 58; 42% women). With every 0.1 improvement in ∆LFI, overall mortality risk declined by 6% (cause-specific HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.92–0.97; P<0.001). Further, ∆LFI was associated with waitlist mortality at cut points as low as 0.1 (cause-specific HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.46–0.87) and 0.2 (HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.42–0.87). An improvement in LFI as small as 0.1 every 3 months in the pre-transplant period was associated with a clinically meaningful reduction in waitlist mortality. The findings “can be used to assess the effectiveness of interventions targeting physical frailty in patients with cirrhosis,” Dr. Lai and colleagues wrote.