The sarcopenia index is an effective predictor for malnutrition in patients with liver cirrhosis

• Published in: Nutrition & dietetics 2022-11, Vol.79 (5), p.563-571
• Main Authors: Wu, Ying‐Ke, Li, Man, Zhang, Yi‐Chao, Gao, Rui‐Zhen, Su, Yang, Zhou, Yu, Zhao, Kai‐Liang, Chen, Chen, Wang, Wei‐Xing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: cirrhosis; creatinine; cystatin C; GLIM; Global Leadership Initiative; Liver cirrhosis; Malnutrition; Sarcopenia; subjective global assessment
• ISSN: 1446-6368; 1747-0080
• DOI: 10.1111/1747-0080.12738

Aim Reliable and valid predictors of malnutrition in patients with cirrhosis remain scarce, especially easily accessible blood indicators. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the validity of the sarcopenia index (serum creatinine/serum cystatin C × 100) as a tool in assessing the nutritional status of patients with cirrhosis. Methods This prospective cohort study included 109 patients with cirrhosis who were hospitalised in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from August 2020 to June 2021. Malnutrition was diagnosed by the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition criteria. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between sarcopenia index and malnutrition. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of sarcopenia index. By contrast, we evaluated the subjective global assessment and traditional nutrition‐related indicators. Results Of the 109 included patients, 71 (65.1%) were diagnosed with malnutrition. The sarcopenia index was significantly lower in malnourished patients (56.39 ± 15.23) compared with well‐nourished patients (74.95 ± 13.18, p