IDENTIFICATION OF NUTRITIONAL RISK IN CANCER PATIENTS TREATED AT A SPECIALIZED OUTPATIENT CLINIC OF A PUBLIC HEALTH HOSPITAL

Abstract

Malnutrition is commonly found in cancer patients, being one of the most frequent complications, caused by the metabolic and physical effects of cancer, or by the side effect of treatment. This study evaluated nutritional status according to the Subjective Global Assessment Produced by the Patient (SGA-PP) and associated clinical and nutritional factors in cancer patients. This was a cross-sectional study conducted with adult and elderly patients diagnosed with cancer treated at the Chemotherapy Center of the Hospital de Clínicas of the Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro, in Uberaba, Minas Gerais (2021-2022). After signing the informed consent, the patients answered a form with sociodemographic, clinical, and nutritional data, and SGA-PP. Weight, height, and the evaluation of arm and calf circumference were also evaluated. For all analyses, p<0.05 was considered significant. A total of 90 patients participated in the study, most of whom were men (61.11%), with a higher prevalence of gastrointestinal tract neoplasms (54.44%). When applying SGA-PP, 83.33% of the patients were classified as suspected or moderately malnourished and severely malnourished. The adjusted regression model showed that patients in urgent need of nutritional management presented the use of oral supplementation as a protective factor (PR: 0.72; 95%CI: 0.54-0.97) and were associated with a higher prevalence of PC, inadequate AC, and inadequate BMI. The patients in this study had a high prevalence of malnutrition according to SGSA-PP, BMI, CP and percentage of adequacy of the AC. Patients malnourished according to SGA-PP were associated with lower anthropometric measurements and poorer quality of life.