Nutritional status and quality of life at varying degrees of clinical severity of chronic liver disease

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the nutritional status and quality of life in patients according to the clinical severity of liver cirrhosis.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 151 cirrhotics were selected for study. Nutritional assessment was done by anthropometry, subjective global assessment, malnutrition universal screening tool, biochemical estimations and 72‐hour dietary recall. Quality of life was assessed by chronic liver disease questionnaire.

Findings

Child's status was A/B/C in 29/68/59, respectively. Muscle and fat depletion was significantly higher in grade C patients as compared to grade A and B patients. Incidence of malnutrition was lowest in grade A patients (72.4 percent) and highest in grade C patients (90.74 percent) (p = 0.00). Calorie and protein intake was significantly lower in grade C patients compared to grade A and B patients (p = 0.00). Child Pugh score was found to be an independent risk factor for various nutritional and clinical parameters.

Research limitations/implications

The data presented reflect the assessment of a very small cohort of these patients and should be done on a larger scale.

Practical implications

Looking into the high prevalence of malnutrition and the negative impact of disease severity, nutritional assessment of these patients should be done on a regular basis and nutritional therapy planned accordingly.

Originality/value

Data on malnutrition from India are scarce. This study is a small attempt to throw light on the nutritional status and its variation according to clinical severity of liver cirrhosis.

Citation

Panagaria, N., Varma, K., Nijhawan, S. and Rai, R.R. (2010), "Nutritional status and quality of life at varying degrees of clinical severity of chronic liver disease", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 40 No. 6, pp. 581-590. https://doi.org/10.1108/00346651011090383