Telerehabilitation for frail cirrhotic patients awaiting liver transplant: A safe, effective strategy to improve outcomes

Table 1 Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the 57 patients included in the telerehabilitation programme

Variable (classes)	n (%)
Male, gender	30 (52.63)
Aetiology of liver disease
Cirrhosis due to alcohol	16 (28.07)
Hepatitis C virus cirrhosis	4 (7.02)
Primary sclerosing cholangitis	2 (3.51)
Late retransplant	10 (17.54)
Autoimmune hepatitis	4 (7.02)
Cryptogenic cirrhosis	7 (12.28)
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis	7 (12.28)
Other	7 (12.28)
Encephalopathy, yes	22 (38.6)
Hepatocellular carcinoma, yes	8 (14.04)
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding, yes	9 (15.79)
Refractory ascites, yes	18 (31.58)
Portal vein thrombosis, yes	3 (5.26)
Outcome
Contraindicated for transplantation/discharge from the transplant program	4 (7.02)
Inactive on the transplant list	1 (1.75)
Active on transplant list	13 (22.81)
Death-before transplantation	6 (10.53)
Transplant performed	33 (57.89)
Group
Non-adherent	40 (70.18)
Adherent	17 (29.82)

The table presents baseline data on sex, aetiology of liver disease, presence of complications, transplant outcomes, and grouping based on programme adherence.

Table 2 Cross-analysis of clinical and demographic characteristics between adherent and non-adherent patients, n (%)

Variable	Class (n)	Group		P value
		Non-adherents	Adherent
Sex	Female (27)	22 (55)	5 (29.41)	0.087
	Male (30)	18 (45)	12 (70.59)
Blood type1	A (18)	9 (23.07)	9 (52.94)	0.380
	B (8)	6 (15.38)	2 (11.76)
	O (28)	22 (56.41)	6 (35.29)
	AB (2)	2 (5.13)	0 (0)
Aetiology of liver disease1	Cirrhosis due to alcohol (16)	11 (27.5)	5 (29.41)	0.239
	Hepatitis C virus cirrhosis (4)	3 (7.5)	1 (5.88)
	Primary sclerosing cholangitis (2)	2 (5)	0 (0)
	Retransplant (10)	8 (20)	2 (11.76)
	Autoimmune hepatitis (4)	4 (10)	0 (0)
	Cryptogenic cirrhosis (7)	4 (10)	3 (17.65)
	MASH (7)	6 (15)	1 (5.88)
	Other (7)	2 (5)	5 (29.41)
Encephalopathy	No (35)	22 (55)	13 (76.47)	0.152
	Yes (22)	18 (45)	4 (23.53)
Ascites	No (19)	12 (30)	7 (41.18)	0.567
	Yes (38)	28 (70)	10 (58.82)
HCC1	No (49)	34 (85)	15 (88.24)	0.999
	Yes (8)	6 (15)	2 (11.76)
UGIB1	No (48)	33 (82.5)	15 (88.24)	0.710
	Yes (9)	7 (17.5)	2 (11.76)
Previous surgery	No (20)	10 (25)	10 (58.82)	0.200
	Yes (37)	30 (75)	7 (41.18)
Refractory ascites	No (39)	27 (67.5)	12 (70.59)	0.999
	Yes (18)	13 (32.5)	5 (29.41)
Portal vein thrombosis1	No (54)	38 (95)	16 (94.12)	0.999
	Yes (3)	2 (5)	1 (5.88)
	Yes (1)	1 (2.5)	0 (0)
	Yes (20)	14 (35)	6 (35.29)
Outcome1	Contraindicated transplantation (4)	4 (10)	0 (0)	0.663
	Inactive on the transplant list (1)	1 (2.5)	0 (0)
	Active on the transplant list (13)	9 (22.5)	4 (23.53)
	Death – before transplantation (6)	5 (12.5)	1 (5.88)
	Transplant performed (33)	21 (52.5)	12 (70.59)

¹Fisher's exact test.

χ² test or Fisher's exact test (significance levels of 5%). The table presents a comparative analysis of variables including sex, blood type, liver disease etiology, clinical complications, transplant outcomes, and other relevant clinical parameters between groups. MASH: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; UGIB: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Table 3 Results of the four-minute step test across study visits and groups

Number steps (4MST)	Coef.	IC 95%		P value
		Inf.	U.
Intercept	61.684	54.990	68.378	-
Non-Adherent Group	Reference
Adherent Group	3.441	-8.857	15.738	0.585
Visit 1	Reference
Visit 2	-0.559	-12.857	11.738	0.929
Visit 3	3.624	-9.635	16.882	0.593
Non-Adherent Group and Visit 1	Reference
Adherent Group and Visit 2	17.203	-2.510	36.917	0.090
Adherent Group and Visit 3	23.706	2.802	44.611	0.029

The table displays linear regression coefficients comparing the number of steps performed during the Four minutes step test across timepoints (Visits 1, 2, and 3) and between adherence groups. 4MST: Four minutes step test.