Development of a novel frailty index to predict mortality in patients with end‐stage liver disease

Cirrhosis is characterized by muscle wasting, malnutrition, and functional decline that confer excess mortality not well quantified by the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) Sodium (MELDNa) score. We aimed to develop a frailty index to capture these extrahepatic complications of cirrhosis and enhance mortality prediction in patients with cirrhosis. Consecutive outpatients listed for liver transplantation at a single transplant center without MELD exceptions were assessed with candidate frailty measures. Best subset selection analyses with Cox regression identified subsets of frailty measures that predicted waitlist mortality (=death or delisting because of sickness). We selected the frailty index by…

• AC
  American College of Gastroenterology
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: K24DK101828, K23AG048337, R01AG042504, P30 DK026743, P30AG044281
• UO
  University of California, San Francisco

  Awards: P30 DK026743, P30AG044281
• LC
  Liver Center, University of California, San Francisco

  Award: P30 DK026743