Reduced 3‐year risk of hospital admission and mortality after 12‐week resistance training of cirrhosis patients: A follow‐up of a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

AbstractBackground and AimPhysical activity confers health benefits in many diseases but remains almost unstudied for cirrhosis.We investigated whether a period of resistance training affects the subsequent long‐term risk of hospitalization or mortality among patients with cirrhosis.MethodsThe study includes 39 participants with cirrhosis Child–Pugh class A/B who participated in a prior clinical trial randomized to either resistance training three times per week for 12 weeks or a control group. We gathered data through medical records from trial entry and the following 3 years. The outcomes were time to first hospitalization and all‐cause mortality. We used regression models to examine the associations between trial groups and outcomes, adjusting for Child–Pugh class, age, gender, and comorbidity.ResultsNine patients who trained and 15 controls were hospitalized, resulting in a lower risk of first hospitalization in the training group (adjusted subdistribution hazard ratio of 0.40, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.17, 0.92]; P = 0.03). One patient who trained and six controls died, resulting in a lower all‐cause mortality in the training group (adjusted hazard ratio of 0.06, 95% CI [0.01, 0.66]; P = 0.02).ConclusionTwelve weeks of resistance training was associated with a reduced risk of first hospitalization and mortality among patients with cirrhosis Child–Pugh class A/B 3 years after trial entry. The mechanisms of this effect are not identified, and larger studies are warranted.