Baseline assessment and run-in period
muscle mass, cirrhosis
CIRRHOSIS, DISEASES
In patients who agreed to participate, demographic data, etiologies of cirrhosis, underlying diseases, and standard laboratory parameters, including complete blood count, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, and liver function test were recorded. The Child-Pugh score, MELD, and MELD-Na scores were calculated to assess the severity of cirrhosis. Body composition was determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) (HBF-514c, Omron, Japan) to measure body weight, muscle mass, and fat-free mass. The skeletal muscle index (SMI) was measured as the muscle mass of all four limbs divided by height squared.After the baseline assessment, all eligible patients underwent a 4-week run-in period, which consisted of dietary and exercise counseling. Trained dieticians provided nutritional guidance to each patient, considering a target calorie intake of 25–30 kcal/day along with 1-1.2 g/kg/day of protein intake. Regarding exercise counseling, a home-based exercise of approximately 30–45 min/day to achieve a target of 150 min/week was recommended to all patients. At the week 2 of run-in period, all patients were followed-up by phone call to ensure their adherence to dietary and exercise advice.