Power of mortality prediction in patients awaiting liver transplantation according to the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition criteria and Subjective Global Assessment and Royal Free Hospital Global Assessment scores

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the performance of the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and Royal Free Hospital Global Assessment (RFH-GA) scores in predicting 12-mo mortality in patients awaiting liver transplantation.Methods: This is a longitudinal observational study, carried out between March 2019 and November 2021. Clinical data were collected and nutritional assessment was performed through anthropometry and applica-tion of validated instruments, such as the SGA, GLIM criteria, and RFH-GA. A Cox regression model was car-ried out, in which the dependent variable was mortality in 1 y, and the independent variables were the classifications of nutritional status by the different methods.Results: The sample consisted of 126 patients, most of them male (56.35%). Malnutrition was diagnosed in 85.71% of the patients according to the RFH-GA, 62.70% according to the SGA, and 56.31% according to the GLIM criteria. Malnutrition assessed by GLIM was related to a 3.79-fold increase in the chance of mortality over time in patients awaiting liver transplantation. Moreover, the GLIM criteria had good discriminatory power in identifying mortality in patients awaiting liver transplantation, compared with the initial and final SGA and RFH-GA scores and the Model for End-stage Liver Disease-Sodium (MELD-Na) index.Conclusions: The GLIM criteria were a good predictor of increased risk of mortality in malnourished patients with chronic liver disease awaiting liver transplantation, compared with the SGA and RFH-GA scores and the MELD-Na index.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.