Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patients with liver cirrhosis often experience muscle wasting that significantly affects their quality of life. AIM: To investigate the effects of comprehensive nutritional and psychological interventions based on an amino acid-balanced diet on muscle wasting and quality of life in patients with liver cirrhosis. METHODS: A retrospective study of 130 patients with liver cirrhosis (May 2023 to June 2024) was divided into control (conventional treatment, n = 65) and observational groups (conventional + amino acid-balanced nutrition and psychological intervention, n = 65). Anxiety (Self-Rating Anxiety Scale), depression (Self-Rating Depression Scale), lower limb muscle strength, and quality of life (Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire) were assessed pre-intervention, and 3/6 months post-intervention. RESULTS: At baseline, no significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of age, sex, etiology of cirrhosis, disease duration, disease severity, or any other measured outcome (P > 0.05). At 3 months and 6 months post-intervention, the observational group exhibited significantly lower Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Self-Rating Depression Scale scores than the control group (P < 0.05), indicating reduced anxiety and depression as well as higher grip strength and increased lower limb muscle strength (P < 0.05). Additionally, the observational group demonstrated superior Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire scores across all domains, reflecting an improved quality of life (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: An amino acid-balanced diet and psychological intervention can effectively alleviate anxiety and depression and improve muscle strength and quality of life in patients with cirrhosis and are worthy of clinical promotion.