Nutritional Status of Cancer Patients: A Unicenteric Report from Iran

Abstract

Background: Considering the incidence of malnutrition, a multidisciplinaryapproach with targeted nutrition is vital to improve the quality of care in cancerpatients. This study aimed to investigate the overall nutritional status of Iraniancancer patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study in 70 cancer patients wasconducted in Shohada-e Tajrish Hospital from February to April 2019. The cancerpatients were assessed by demographics and Scored Patient-Generated SubjectiveGlobal Assessment (PG-SGA) utilized as a common tool to evaluate the nutritionalstatus of patients with different types of cancer. Results: Overall, 20.0% and 70.0%of the patients had normal body mass index (BMI) and overweight/obese,respectively. Moreover, 30.0% and 60.0% of the participants reported poor andnormal intake, respectively. Males were more affected by malnutrition.Approximately 8.0% of the participants lost more than 10.0% of their weight;however, a vast majority of the patients maintained their weight. Conclusion: Thehigh prevalence of malnutrition among the studied cancer patients demonstrated thenecessity of nutritional care to improve possible malnutrition for better treatmentresults.