Frailty and food intake quality in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with or without cirrhosis.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the leading causes of cirrhosis. Frailty and malnutrition are comorbidities associated with cirrhosis, impacting patient quality of life and survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate frailty and food intake quality in patients with chronic HCV infection, with or without cirrhosis, and the association between demographic, clinical, and anthropometric variables.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted at the hepatitis clinic of the Hospital Civil de Guadalajara Fray Antonio Alcalde. Each participant was evaluated using the Liver Frailty Index (LFI), the mini-survey for assessing dietary intake quality (Mini-ECCA v.2), and upper arm anthropometry.

RESULTS

Of the sample of 52 patients, nearly 40% presented with chronic HCV alone and close to 80% were classified as pre-frail on the LFI. The study patients had a mean handgrip strength of 25.5 ± 11.1 kg and under 10% had a healthy diet.

CONCLUSIONS

There was a high prevalence of frailty in the patients with inadequate dietary intake. In addition, the arm circumference measurement was positively correlated with handgrip strength, highlighting the importance of considering arm anthropometry in those patients as part of their nutritional assessment.