Nutritional status of patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy for malignant tumor and its influencing factors

Abstract

Objective To investigate the nutritional status of patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy for malignant tumor and its influencing factors. Methods A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect related clinical data of the patients who underwent concurrent chemoradiotherapy for malignant tumor in Beijing Cancer Hospital from March to May, 2019. Patient-generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) was used to investigate the nutritional status of these patients and related influencing factors. Results A total of 150 usable questionnaires were collected. The median PG-SGA score was 6.0 (3.0,11.0) for all 150 patients. Among these 150 patients, 56 (37.3%) had severe malnutrition and 49 (32.7%) had moderate malnutrition. The univariate analysis showed that old age, esophageal cancer or head and neck cancer, stage Ⅳ tumor, more than 15 sessions of radiotherapy, more than 4 sessions of chemotherapy, and paclitaxel+platinum regimen or platinum monotherapy were influencing factors for malnutrition in these patients (Z=-3.839--2.087,P<0.05). The binary logistic regression analysis showed that old age, esophageal cancer or head and neck cancer, and more than 15 sessions of radiotherapy were independent risk factors for severe malnutrition in patients (P<0.05). Conclusion There is a relatively high proportion of patients with malnutrition among the patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy for malignant tumor, especially among elderly patients, patients with esophageal cancer or head and neck cancer, and patients in the late stage of concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Medical staff should dynamically assess and monitor the nutritional status of patients and give timely intervention.

Keywords

• neoplasms|chemoradiotherapy|malnutrition|root causes analysis|head and neck neoplasms|aged