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©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Effects of an active lifestyle on the physical frailty of liver transplant candidates
Ilias Marios Oikonomou, Emmanouil Sinakos, Nikolaos Antoniadis, Ioannis Goulis, Olga Giouleme, Maria Anifanti, Georgios Katsanos, Konstantina-Eleni Karakasi, Georgios Tsoulfas, Evangelia Kouidi
Ilias Marios Oikonomou, Nikolaos Antoniadis, Georgios Katsanos, Konstantina-Eleni Karakasi, Georgios Tsoulfas, Department of Transplant Surgery, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54642, Greece
Emmanouil Sinakos, Ioannis Goulis, The Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54642, Greece
Olga Giouleme, The Second Propaedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54642, Greece
Maria Anifanti, Evangelia Kouidi, Laboratory of Sports Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 57001, Greece
Author contributions: Oikonomou IM and Kouidi E designed the research study; Oikonomou IM, Sinakos E, Antoniadis N, Goulis I, Giouleme O, Anifanti M, Katsanos G, and Tsoulfas G performed the research; Oikonomou IM and Karakasi KE analyzed the data and results; Oikonomou IM wrote the manuscript; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Institutional Review Board (Approval No. 65/2021).
Informed consent statement: All patients participating in the study provided written and informed consent prior to their inclusion.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: There are no additional data available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement checklist of things.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Ilias Marios Oikonomou, MD, MPhil, Surgeon, Department of Transplant Surgery, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 49 Konstantinoupoleos Street, Thessaloniki 54642, Greece. i.m.oikonomou@gmail.com
Received: June 15, 2022
Peer-review started: June 15, 2022
First decision: August 4, 2022
Revised: August 26, 2022
Accepted: October 18, 2022
Article in press: October 18, 2022
Published online: November 18, 2022
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Liver transplantation forces a substantial stress on the human physiology, which is even more significant considered the deconditioning that accompanies end-stage liver disease (ELD). Physical frailty has emerged as an important factor both pre- and postoperatively, aiming to improve results and outcomes.
Research motivation
The limited amount of available organ donations in addition to the high demand in liver transplants, highlight the need for proper planning and prioritization, while at the same time working towards further outcome improvement.
Research objectives
The main objective was to identify if an active lifestyle can significantly improve physical frailty and functional capacity in patients with ELD.
Research methods
An International Physical Activity Questionnaire, a functional capacity assessment, and a physical frailty evaluation were utilized.
Research results
There was a statistically significant difference and statistically significant correlation between the activity level and the Liver Frailty Index, the peak oxygen uptake, the anaerobic threshold, and the 6-min walking distance.
Research conclusions
Physical activity can potentially improve functional capacity and frailty in liver transplant candidates.
Research perspectives
Future research should focus on the regimen of the exercise that would be more suitable, or better quantify the amount of physical exercise needed for these patients. Furthermore, the potential use of these markers in survival and outcomes should be evaluated.
