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.