Cachexia is an independent predictor of mortality in patients with cirrhosis

Of the 723 patients enrolled (median [interquartile range] age, 71 [64-77] years; 456 [63%] were male; and 390 [54%] had viral hepatitis), 200 (28%) met the criteria for cachexia diagnosis, with the prevalence increasing with Child-Pugh class from A (17%) to B (40%) and C (66%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that age and indices of liver function reserve, including Child-Pugh score, were associated with cachexia, whereas sex, etiology of cirrhosis, and complications with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were not. During a median follow-up period of 3.2 years, 264 (37%) patients died. Multivariable Cox regression analyses showed that cachexia was independently associated with increased mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.62; 95% confidence interval, 1.24-2.12), along with factors related to liver function, HCC, and alcohol-associated liver disease as the etiology. [Correction added on 22 May 2025, after first online publication: The adjusted hazard ratio and confidence interval in the Results section of Abstract have been changed from '1.59; 95% and 1.43-1.77' to '1.62; 95% and 1.24-2.12'.] CONCLUSIONS: Cachexia is associated with poor liver function in patients with cirrhosis and is an independent prognostic factor.