Table 3.

Prognostic Factors That May Be Used to Help Determine Hospice Eligibility

Factor	Parameter	Outcome	Population
MELD	MELD ≥ 20	3-month mortality 81%[49]	Hospitalized patients
	MELD ≥ 20	3-month mortality 50%[49]	Ambulatory patients
	MELD ≥ 30	3-month mortality 53%[50]	Waitlisted patients
	MELD ≥ 30	6-month mortality 75%[51]	Hospitalized patients
MELD-Na	MELD-Na ≥ 32	3-month mortality 65%[52]	Waitlisted patients
Child-Pugh	Child-Pugh C	3-month mortality 51%[49]	Hospitalized patients
	Child-Pugh C	6-month mortality 42%[51]	Hospitalized patients
Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure	ACLF (CLIF)	3-month mortality 48–63%[53]	Hospitalized patients
	ACLF (NACSELD)	30-day mortality 49%[54]	Hospitalized patients (infection)
Refractory Ascites	Refractory ascites	12-month mortality 37–48%[55]	Individual patient meta-analysis
Hepatorenal Syndrome	HRS Type 1	3-month mortality 81%[56]	Meta-analysis
	HRS Type 2	3-month mortality 46%[56]	Meta-analysis
Hepatopulmonary Syndrome	PaO2 ≤ 60 mmHg	6-month mortality 75%[57]	Transplant evaluation
Frailty/Sarcopenia	Liver frailty index ≥ 4.5 (with HE and/or ascites)	12-month mortality 39%[58]	Waitlisted patients
	Psoas muscle thickness/height ≤ 16.8 mm/m	6-month mortality 42%[59]	Waitlisted patients
	Sarcopenia (skeletal muscle index ≤38.5 cm2/m2 for women; ≤52.4 cm2/m2 for men)	12-month mortality 47%[60]	Ambulatory patients
	Sarcopenia in women (skeletal muscle index <39 cm2/m2)	6-month mortality ~50%[61]	Waitlisted patients
Bristol Prognostic Screening Tool	BPST ≥3	12-month mortality 81%[62]	Hospitalized patients
Supportive and Palliative Indicators Tool	SPICT	6-month mortality 37%[63]	Hospitalized patients

Abbreviations: MELD, model for end-stage liver disease; ACLF, acute-on-chronic liver failure; CLIF, chronic liver failure consortium; NACSELD, North American Consortium for the Study of End Stage Liver Disease; HRS, hepatorenal syndrome; HE, hepatic encephalopathy; BPST, Bristol Prognostic Screening Tool; SPICT, Supportive and Palliative Indicators Tool