Observational study on dietary habits and quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Western countries after lung cancer and male breast cancer. Numerous studies report the effectiveness of a healthy diet in reducing the risk of developing colon cancer or its recurrence. Although the literature provides us with some indications of the most appropriate foods to be used to reduce the risk of developing the cancer or its recurrence, there are not many scientific studies that allow us to understand whether the quality of life of people diagnosed with carcinoma of the Colon can improve by following healthy eating habits. By virtue of this, the objective of this study was to observe the eating habits and quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer. Materials and methods: Observational study on a samplewith age>18 years and diagnosis of colorectal cancer at the Oncology Clinic of an IRCCS in Rome. For the collection of socio-demographic and clinical data (including anthropometric data, blood type and eating habits), an ad hoc questionnaire was used, while EORTCQLQ-C30 was used for QoL (Version 3.0). The data were then analyzed using the SPSS (version 9.0) programand represented by tables describing the frequency of the variables under consideration. Results: 69 patients with a median age of 62 years were recruited, mainly married, with a low average medical title, with a BMI (Body Mass Index) 25 and a predominantly type A blood type 36%. The sample included many animal based foods, especially chicken meat (77.1%), beef (73.2%) and raw ham (77.6%) but not dairy (15.8%) or fish (20.3%), and few food of origin Vegetable (27.4%). Drinking sparkling beverages (1.3%) and alcohol (12.3%) is also limited. Despite the presence of some disorders, such as insomnia (43.5%), abdominal swelling (55.5%) and anxiety (37.4%), the QoL of the sample being tested is average (57.6). Conclusion: The study found that patients with colorectal cancer did not follow a balanced diet regime. It is therefore necessary to raise the awareness of patients to take on foods that can reduce the disturbance and bring quality of life to higher levels.