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Falls are frequent in patients with cirrhosis and cognitive dysfunction and can deteriorate health-related quality of life.
Dr Eva Roman and colleagues evaluated the relationship between previous falls and health-related quality of life in patients with cirrhosis.
The team measured health-related quality of life in 118 outpatients with cirrhosis using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form questionnaire, grouping items into the Physical Component Score and the Mental Component Score.
The incidence of accidental falls in the 12 months before the study was assessed using a specific questionnaire.
The researchers used the Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) to assess cognitive dysfunction.
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| Health-related quality of life was lower in patients with previous falls |
| European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology |
The researchers considered cognitive dysfunction if PHES was less than −4.
Health-related quality of life was compared between patients with falls and patients without falls.
The team of doctors found that health-related quality of life was lower in patients with previous falls than in patients without falls.
In the multivariate analysis, the only independent factors that affected the health-related quality of life in the Physical Component Score were cognitive dysfunction, previous variceal bleeding, anemia, and hyponatremia.
The team showed the independent factors for worse health-related quality of life were female sex and previous falls.
Dr Roman's team concludes "Falls and cognitive dysfunction are independent factors associated with impaired health-related quality of life in patients with cirrhosis."
"Strategies addressed to improve health-related quality of life in these patients should consider the treatment of cognitive dysfunction and prevention of falls."
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