Effect of amino acid-balanced diet-based nutritional-psychological intervention on muscle wasting and quality of life in cirrhosis patients

Table 6 Dynamic changes in liver function indicators, mean ± SD

Indicator	Group	Baseline	3 months	6 months	P value (time × group)2
ALT (U/L)	Control group	68.3 ± 12.1	65.7 ± 11.8	67.2 ± 10.9	0.032
	Observation group	67.9 ± 13.5	58.2 ± 9.71	52.4 ± 8.31
AST (U/L)	Control group	75.6 ± 14.2	73.8 ± 13.6	74.1 ± 12.7	0.021
	Observation group	76.1 ± 15.0	66.3 ± 10.81	60.5 ± 9.41
Albumin (g/L)	Control group	31.2 ± 2.8	32.0 ± 3.1	31.7 ± 2.9	0.019
	Observation group	30.8 ± 3.0	34.5 ± 2.71	36.8 ± 2.51
Prealbumin (mg/L)	Control group	120.5 ± 15.7	125.3 ± 16.2	123.1 ± 14.9	0.008
	Observation group	118.7 ± 16.3	142.6 ± 18.11	158.3 ± 17.51
Total bilirubin (μmol/L)	Control group	42.5 ± 6.8	40.1 ± 6.2	41.3 ± 5.9	0.045
	Observation group	43.2 ± 7.1	36.7 ± 5.81	32.4 ± 4.71

¹Significant difference compared to before intervention within the same group and compared to control group at the same time point.

²Interaction effect by repeated-measures ANOVA, control group showed no significant changes from baseline at any time point (all P > 0.05); observation group showed significant improvements in all indicators at 3/6 months vs baseline and 3/6 months vs control group.