Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the subjects.
| HCs subjects (n = 18) | NHE patients (n = 23) | MHE patients (n = 20) | P value (ANOVA) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (year) | 50.1 ± 6.6 | 50.8 ± 9.8 | 49.5 ± 9.2 | 0.882 |
| Sex (Male/Female) | 13/5 | 19/4 | 15/5 | 0.706 (χ2-test) |
| Education level (year) | 8.4 ± 2.6 | 8.2 ± 2.9 | 8.6 ± 2.8 | 0.908 |
| Etiology of cirrhosis (HBV/alcoholism/ HBV+alcoholism/other) | – | 15/3/2/3 | 12/3/1/4 | |
| Child–Pugh stage (A/B/C) | - | 16/6/1 | 4/12/4 | |
| PHES test | ||||
| Final PHES score | 0.44 ± 2.12 | −0.87 ± 2.16 | −7.80 ± 2.28*,# | <0.001 |
| Number connection test A (seconds) | 38.2 ± 12.6 | 39.5 ± 11.7 | 57.1 ± 14.7*,# | <0.001 |
| Number connection test B (seconds) | 63.2 ± 31.2 | 73.3 ± 19.6 | 120.2 ± 47.8*,# | <0.001 |
| Serial dotting test (seconds) | 43.3 ± 8.1 | 46.4 ± 9.1 | 59.1 ± 8.8*,# | <0.001 |
| Digit symbol test (raw score) | 44.9 ± 9.3 | 41.6 ± 11.9 | 28.9 ± 8.4*,# | <0.001 |
| Line tracing test (raw score) | 113.8 ± 17.9 | 148.9 ± 37.0† | 183.7 ± 37.2* | <0.001 |
Note: MHE, minimal hepatic encephalopathy; NHE, patients without MHE; HCs, healthy controls; PHES, psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score; ANOVA, analysis of variance. The markers *, †, and # respectively indicate the significant difference in neurological performance between MHE and HC, NHE and HC, and MHE and NHE.