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Frailty is a multifactorial condition increasing a person's vulnerability to stress. It further aggravates health status and it develops as a consequence of advanced liver disease, loss of muscle mass/function, and poor cardiorespiratory fitness. Frailty and physical inactivity create a vicious cycle, and they make liver disease look more severe. -
Frailty is present in approximately 25% of patients (or in 1 of every 4), particularly among liver transplant candidates. Frailty has been mostly associated with increased mortality and removal from the transplant waitlist, when patients are considered to be “too sick” to transplant.
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Frailty in advanced liver disease is identified by the inability of patients to execute activities of daily living or execute a test of physical function. Physical inactivity is generalized in our society and apart from constituting one of the four leading factors contributing to premature mortality, it plays a key role in the origin and perpetuation of frailty in cirrhosis.
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For more information about the Liver Frailty Index, please visit: