Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of study sample stratified by symptom burden
| N = 233 Median (IQR) or n (%) | Mild/moderate symptoms | Severe symptom(s)† | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||
| Age, years | 61 (54–65) | 62 (54–66) | 60 (55–65) | 0.52 |
| Female | 99 (43) | 54 (38) | 45 (50) | 0.09 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||
| White | 191 (82) | 114 (80) | 77 (85) | |
| Black | 10 (4) | 6 (4) | 1 (1) | |
| Hispanic | 3 (1) | 2 (1) | 1 (1) | |
| Asian | 25 (11) | 19 (13) | 6 (7) | |
| Native American | 3 (1) | 1 (1) | 2 (2) | |
| Other | 1 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.4) | 0.41 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 29 (25–33) | 28 (25–33) | 29 (25–33) | 0.34 |
| Primary etiology of cirrhosis | ||||
| Hepatitis C | 75 (32) | 44 (31) | 31 (34) | |
| Alcohol | 63 (27) | 30 (28) | 24 (26) | |
| NASH | 50 (22) | 27 (19) | 23 (25) | |
| Cholestatic | 17 (7) | 13 (9) | 4 (4) | |
| Hepatitis B | 7 (3) | 6 (4) | 1 (1) | |
| Other | 21 (9) | 13 (9) | 8 (9) | 0.45 |
| Dialysis | 10 (4) | 5 (4) | 5 (6) | 0.47 |
| Ascites | 37 (16) | 16 (11) | 21 (23) | 0.02 |
| Hepatic encephalopathy | 43 (19) | 21 (15) | 22 (24) | 0.07 |
| HCC | 77 (33) | 52 (37) | 25 (28) | 0.15 |
| Listed for transplant | 191 (82) | 116 (82) | 75 (82) | 0.89 |
| MELDNa | 15 (11–19) | 14 (11–19) | 18 (14–20) | <0.001 |
| Liver Frailty Index | 3.76 (3.26–4.23) | 3.61 (3.01–4.05) | 4.00 (3.41–4.49) | <0.001 |
| Robust | 52 (22) | 41 (29) | 11 (12) | |
| Pre-frail | 138 (59) | 86 (61) | 52 (57) | |
| Frail | 43 (19) | 15 (11) | 28 (31) | <0.001 |
†
Severe symptom(s) = 1 or more Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale score ≥7
BMI=body mass index, HCC = hepatocellular carcinoma, IQR=interquartile range, MELDNa=Model for End-Stage Liver Disease–sodium, NASH=Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis