Nutritional Assessment of Egyptian Adults with Hepatic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies: Cross sectional study

Abdelfatah, Dalia; Allam, Rasha Mahmoud; Moneer, Manar; Abdelgawad, Iman Attia; Hassany, Mohammed; Elattar, Inas

doi:10.21608/ejcm.2021.83418.1180

Nutritional Assessment of Egyptian Adults with Hepatic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies: Cross sectional study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Lecturer of Biostatistics and cancer epidemiology department, National cancer institute, Cairo university, Cairo, Egypt

² Cancer Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Egypt

³ Department of Biostatistics and epidemiology, National cancer institute, Cairo University

⁴ Clinical Pathology and Oncology Laboratory Medicine National Cancer Institute, Cairo University

⁵ National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute, General Organization For Teaching Hospitals and Institutes, Ministry Of Health And Population

10.21608/ejcm.2021.83418.1180

Abstract

Abstract
Background: Malnutrition is a frequent problem in cancer patients. Malnutrition and weight loss are associated with worse outcome, impaired quality of life, and performance status in cancer patients. The study aimed to assess the nutritional status of patients with stomach, colorectal, and hepatic malignancies in relation to different sociodemographic and clinicopathological characteristics.
Material and methods: This cross-sectional study included 298 incident cases (85 liver, 93 stomach, and 120 colorectal cancers) enrolled during the period from January 2018 to September 2019. The instrument of this study consisted of Socio-demographic, clinicopathological characteristics, and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) questionnaire.
Results: Malnutrition was found in 39.6% of all patients; 49.5% of stomach, 39.2% of colorectal, and 29.4% of liver cancer patients. The independent factors that significantly predict malnutrition were tumor type (OR: 3.4: 95%CI: 1.6-7.1 - stomach vs. liver) and (OR: 1.8, 95%CI: 0.9-3.6 - colorectal vs. liver), psychological problems (OR: 3.8: 95%CI: 2.1-6.8), low performance status (OR: 5.6: 95%CI: 1.8-17.9), and smoking (OR: 1.9: 95%CI: 1.1-3.4).
Conclusion: Malnutrition is prevalent among gastrointestinal and liver cancers. It is more frequent in stomach cancer cases than in liver cancer cases. The independent factors that significantly predict malnutrition were: tumor type, psychological problems, low performance status, and smoking.

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