Alcohol abstinence boosts overall survival in alcohol-associated cirrhosis

Abstinence from alcohol may dramatically increase survival rates for individuals with alcohol-related cirrhosis, as reported in a study.

Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the prevalence of alcohol abstinence, factors associated with alcohol abstinence, and the effect of abstinence on morbidity and overall survival among patients with alcohol-associated cirrhosis.

Multiple online databases were searched for relevant prospective and retrospective cohort studies. Data were pooled using inverse variance, employing a random-effects model, to compare outcomes between abstinence and continuous alcohol consumption.

Nineteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. These studies comprised 18,833 patients with alcohol-associated cirrhosis in total. The prevalence of alcohol abstinence was 53.8 percent (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 44.6–62.7).

Over a mean follow-up of 48.6 months, overall survival was significantly lower among patients who continued to consume alcohol than among those who were abstinent (pooled hazard ratio [HR], 0.611, 95 percent CI, 0.506–0.738). These findings held true across subgroups defined by the presence of decompensation, regardless of study design, and in an analysis limited to studies wherein abstinence was assessed throughout follow-up.

Of note, alcohol abstinence had a protective effect on the risk of hepatic decompensation (pooled HR, 0.612, 95 percent CI, 0.473–0.792).