Specific nutritional needs of cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy: an exploratory survey

Abstract

Objective: Patients on chemotherapy (CT) experience a multitude of symptoms that affect nutritional intake. Therefore, we aimed to determine the symptoms that reduce food intake among patients and their perceptions towards needs of nutrition support (NS). Patients and Methods: A convenience sample of patients on CT participated in this questionnaire-based study. Results: 336 out of 445 patients on adjuvant CT participated in this survey. Among the symptoms experienced during CT, fatigue (54%) and anorexia (36%) appeared to be main contributors to decreased food intake and it was significantly more prevalent in patients with cachexia (p<0.05). The needs of NS were nutrition intervention and education (78%), recipes to improve food intake (85%), use of ONS (75%) and use of enteral and parenteral nutrition (25%). 82% of the patients wanted to the nutritionist to be involved in planning NS and the best time to provide NS was when weight loss became evident (61%) and at the time of diagnosis (51%). 66% of the patients wanted the family to be involved in decisions related to NS and 84% wanted them in follow-up nutrition sessions. Conclusions: Collaborating with patients to understanding their perceptions towards nutritional needs and addressing them can help in the better food intake and manage the nutrition status.

Keywords

• nutrition support
• malnutrition
• perceptions
• diet