Relationship between sarcopenia/myosteatosis and frailty in hospitalized patients with cirrhosis: a sex-stratified analysis

Background: Previous studies have shown that sarcopenia appears to be a significant contributor to physical frailty among outpatients with cirrhosis. However, the evidence is scant regarding the relationship between sarcopenia and multi-dimensional frailty among inpatients. We aimed to investigate t...

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Main Authors: Hongjuan Feng (Author), Xiaoyu Wang (Author), Lihong Mao (Author), Zihan Yu (Author), Binxin Cui (Author), Lin Lin (Author), Yangyang Hui (Author), Xingliang Zhao (Author), Xin Xu (Author), Xiaofei Fan (Author), Bangmao Wang (Author), Qingxiang Yu (Author), Kui Jiang (Author), Chao Sun (Author)
Format: Book
Published: SAGE Publishing, 2021-07-01T00:00:00Z.
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Summary:Background: Previous studies have shown that sarcopenia appears to be a significant contributor to physical frailty among outpatients with cirrhosis. However, the evidence is scant regarding the relationship between sarcopenia and multi-dimensional frailty among inpatients. We aimed to investigate the potential contribution of sarcopenia to frailty in hospitalized patients with cirrhosis in a sex-dependent manner. Methods: This cohort enrolled consecutive cirrhotics. Muscle quantity and quality were assessed using the computed tomography-based skeletal muscle index (SMI) and intramuscular adipose tissue content, respectively. Frailty phenotype was clarified by a self-reported Frailty Index. Multiple linear regression determined the association between sarcopenia and frailty phenotype. Results: A total of 202 cirrhotic patients with 48.5% male were included. The median Frailty Index was 0.13, rendering 17.3% subjects as frail. Among the 16 frail men, 68.8% had sarcopenia and 62.5% exhibited myosteatosis. In contrast, among the 19 frail women, 26.3% had sarcopenia and 15.8% exhibited myosteatosis. Frail patients had a significantly lower median SMI (42.80 cm 2 /m 2 ) compared with those with pre-frailty (48.23 cm 2 /m 2 ) and with robust status (50.82 cm 2 /m 2 ) in the male but not the female group. In male patients, multivariate linear regression implicated age (β  =  0.330, p  < 0.001), SMI (β  =  −0.260, p  < 0.001), albumin (β  =  −0.245, p  = 0.005), and sodium (β  =  −0.179, p  = 0.037) as independent risk factors for frailty. Conclusion: Sarcopenia is associated with multi-dimensional frailty in male patients with cirrhosis. It is tempting to incorporate sex-specific intervention with the purpose of mitigating frailty among inpatients.
Item Description:2040-6231
10.1177/20406223211026996