title: Effect of abstinence from alcohol on survival of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To address the questions of whether abstinence improves survival of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis (AC) and how long it takes for the effect to be significant.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review and a meta-analysis are performed to assess the effect of abstinence on the survival of patients with AC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven cohort studies involving 1235 patients with AC were included. No differences were found in 0.5-year survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.23-1.03, P = 0.06) and 1-year survival (HR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.32-1.03, P = 0.06) between the abstinent and continue drinking groups. However, differences were found in 1.5-year survival (HR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.33-0.81, P = 0.004), 2-year survival (HR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.38-0.78, P = 0.0008), 2.5-year survival (HR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.38-0.77, P = 0.0005), 3-year survival (HR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.40-0.74, P = 0.0001), 3.5-year survival (HR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.44-0.73, P < 0.00001), 4-year survival (HR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.48-0.73, P < 0.00001), 4.5-year survival (HR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.49-0.76, P < 0.0001) and 5-year survival (HR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.52-0.76, P < 0.00001) between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alcohol abstinence does improve the survival of patients with AC, and it takes at least 1.5 years of alcohol abstinence before a statistically significant difference in survival can be observed between the abstinent and the continue drinking groups.
authors.affiliation: Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Hepatology Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Hepatitis C and Immunotherapy for Liver Diseases, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Di
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Hepatology Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Hepatitis C and Immunotherapy for Liver Diseases, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Hepatology Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Hepatitis C and Immunotherapy for Liver Diseases, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Hepatology Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Hepatitis C and Immunotherapy for Liver Diseases, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Lai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
keywords: abstinence; abstinent; alcoholic cirrhosis; continue drinking; meta-analysis