Frailty in outpatients with cirrhosis: A prospective observational study

Background and Aim Frailty is increasingly recognized as a major prognostic factor in cirrhosis in addition to conventional liver insufficiency scores. The aim was to compare the prevalence and characteristics of frailty between patients with cirrhosis and controls, and to analyse its prognostic value. Methods We included outpatients with cirrhosis and age‐ and gender‐matched non‐cirrhotic controls. Frailty was defined according to the Fried frailty criteria. In patients with cirrhosis, we analysed the ability of the degree of frailty to predict a composite endpoint, consisting of hospitalization, admission to a long‐term care centre, falls or death. Results We included 135 patients with cirrhosis and 135 controls. The prevalence of frailty was higher among patients with cirrhosis: 35 (25.9%) frail, 74 (54.8%) pre‐frail and 26 (19.2%) robust vs 14 (10.4%) frail, 67 (49.6%) pre‐frail and 54 (40%) robust (P