Risk of Malnutrition and Its Effects on the Quality of Life of Hospitalized Cancer Patients

• Published in: Namık Kemal tıp dergisi Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 84 - 90
• Main Authors: ÇELİK, Emir, ASLAN, Muhammed Şamil, ŞENGÜL SAMANCI, Nilay, KARADAĞ, Mehmet, SUZAN, Veysel, ÇAKAN ÇELİK, Yasemin, DEMİRCİ, Nebi Serkan, DEMİRELLİ, Fuat Hulusi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Galenos Yayınevi 01.04.2021; Galenos Yayincilik
• Subjects: eortc-qlq c30; malnutrition; nrs-2002; quality of life; Tıp; Tekirdağ; Türkiye; NRS-2002; EORTC-QLQ C30; Malnutrition; quality of life; Malnutrisyon; yaşam kalitesi
• ISSN: 2587-0262; 2587-0262
• DOI: 10.4274/nkmj.galenos.2021.02886

Aim: Malnutrition is one of the most common clinical problems in cancer patients. Its frequency increases in hospitalized cancer patients. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the frequency of malnutrition and its effect on quality of life (QOL) in hospitalized cancer patients. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, Nutrition Risk Screening-2002 (NRS-2002) and European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)-QLQ C30 scales were completed for patients with cancer diagnosed in the medical oncology service. The relationship between clinical and laboratory parameters, malnutrition risk and QOL was analyzed by statistical methods. Results: One-hundred thirteen patients were included in the study. According to the results of NRS-2002, 42.5% (n=48) patients were at risk of malnutrition. There was no difference between the groups in terms of gender and age. When the EORTC-QLQ C30 scale scores were compared, the risk of malnutrition had no effect on the overall health score (p=0.679). Physical function and role function scores were significantly lower in those at risk of malnutrition (worse QOL). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of other functional scales. When univariate logistic regression (LR) was applied to the factors affecting better general health score, only hemoglobin level was found to be a significant factor. Therefore, multivariate LR was not done. Conclusion: Malnutrition risk assessment should be performed routinely in every hospitalized cancer patient. Early nutritional support should be given to patients at risk. It was observed that patients with malnutrition risk had worse QOL compared to the EORTC-QLQ C30 scale.