Frailty and diet quality index in patients with chronic HCV infection with and without cirrhosis. Preliminary report

Introduction and Objectives

It is estimated that 71 million people live with chronic hepatitis C viral infection (HCV). Part of the comorbidities associated with cirrhosis is frailty. Remarkably, diet is highly important in the management of cirrhosis and liver diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the quality of the diet in this population. In this context, we evaluated the frailty and quality of the diet in patients with chronic HCV infection with or without cirrhosis, as well as the association between demographic, clinical, and anthropometric variables.

Materials and Patients

A cross-sectional study was conducted in the hepatitis clinic of the Civil Hospital of Guadalajara Fray Antonio Alcalde. Each participant was required to complete the Liver Frailty index (LFI) which include hand grip strength, chair stand test and balance test. Additionally, the mini survey was applied to evaluate the quality of food consumption (Mini-ECCA v.2). This questionnaire includes 14 questions, each with 3 or 4 response options on a Likert scale. The outcome yields three classifications: “healthy food intake, habit to be improved, and unhealthy food intake." Finally, upper arm anthropometry was performed. P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

A preliminary sample of 20 patients was assessed. Of them, 60% (n=12) had only chronic HCV infection, 85% (n=17) of LFI were considered pre-fragile, while the rest of the participants were classified as fragile. The quality of the diet, 65% (n=13), was considered “a habit to be improved.” A relationship was found between the quality of the diet and LFI. Likewise, a negative correlation was also found between the mean arm muscle circumference (MAMC) and the LFI score (r=-0.577; p=0.008) as well as MAMC and time in chair supports (r=-0.504;p=0.023). In addition, we found a positive correlation between the MAMC and hand grip strength (r=-0.624; p=0.003).

Conclusions

Some degree of frailty was found in the participants, and the quality of the diet was found to be “a habit to be improved” in most of the population sample.

Ethical statement

The protocol was registered and approved by the Ethics Committee. The identity of the patients is protected. Consentment was obtained.

Declaration of interests

None

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.