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. 2021 Mar 17;19(1):90.
doi: 10.1186/s12955-021-01735-7.

A poorer nutritional status impacts quality of life in a sample population of elderly cancer patients

Tatiane Correia Rios  1 , Lucivalda Pereira Magalhães de Oliveira  2 , Maria Lúcia Varjão da Costa  3 , Ramona Souza da Silva Baqueiro Boulhosa  4 , Anna Karla Carneiro Roriz  5 , Lilian Barbosa Ramos  5 , Allain Amador Bueno  6
Affiliations

A poorer nutritional status impacts quality of life in a sample population of elderly cancer patients

Tatiane Correia Rios et al. Health Qual Life Outcomes. .

Abstract

Rationale: Quality of Life (QoL) is impaired in cancer, and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition. A diagnosis of cancer in elderly patients further exacerbates risks of negative health outcomes. Here we investigated associations between QoL and nutritional status in a sample population of mostly socially deprived elderly cancer patients.

Method: 432 cancer patients were recruited for this cross-sectional study at point of admission to a tertiary referral hospital for cancer treatment. Patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) assessed nutritional status. Functional assessment of cancer therapy- general (FACT-G) quantified QoL. Relationship between PG-SGA and QoL was assessed by Spearman correlation. PG-SGA outcomes were compared against FACT-G scores employing Mann-Whitney test. Bivariate Linear Regression Model was employed to investigate influences of sociodemographic, clinical and nutritional status upon QoL.

Results: 37.5% of participants were malnourished or at risk. 39% were illiterate and 54.6% had family income lower than minimum wage. Malnourished patients showed lower FACT-G scores (76.8 vs. 84.7; p = 0.000). Poor nutritional diagnosis was inversely correlated with all QoL domains. Bivariate regression analysis showed that lower PG-SGA scores (βo = - 1.00; p = 0.000) contributed to FACT-G score deterioration, the male gender showed better QoL scores, and other clinical and sociodemographic variables did not show relationship.

Conclusion: Poorer nutritional status was significantly associated with worsened physical, social, emotional and functional well-being QoL domains in elderly cancer patients. Poorer nutritional status is an independent risk factor for worsened QoL. Future policies aimed at particularly vulnerable populations may improve QoL and health outcomes.

Keywords: Cancer; Elderly; FACT-G; Malnutrition; PG-SGA.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that this research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Spearman correlations between FACT-G domains scores and PG-SGA scores in the sample population of elderly cancer patients investigated. *Spearman correlation ϕp value < 0.05. PG-SGA patient-generated subjective global assessment, FACT-G functional assessment of cancer therapy: general
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Scatterplot of the Spearman correlation between FACT-G final score and PG-SGA screening score in the sample population of elderly cancer patients investigated. Spearman correlation =  − 0.376 p value = 0.000. PG-SGA patient-generated subjective global assessment, FACT-G functional assessment of cancer therapy: general
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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