The Relationship between Nutritional Status and Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Patients in Ethiopia Treated at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital and Saint Paul Millennium Medical College
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2020-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Background: Breast Cancer patients often suffer from a substantial loss in weight and energy as
a result of changes in appetite and metabolism. The prevalence of malnutrition in breast cancer
patients ranges from 30% to 60%. While it is already a proven fact that malnutrition is prevalent
among cancer patients, the relationship between nutritional status and quality of life among (QoL)
in breast cancer patients had not been adequately explored.
Objectives: This study is conducted to determine the association between nutritional status and
quality of life of Breast Cancer patients at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH) and St.
Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPMMC), Addis Ababa, 2020.
Methods: A cross-sectional study on breast cancer patients treated at Tikur Anbessa specialized
hospital (TASH) and St. Paul millennium medical college (SPHMMC) oncology centres outpatient
and in-patient departments was done from May to August 2020 . Consecutive sampling
was used to select study participants. Nutritional status was assessed using subjective global
assessment (SGA) screening tool. Quality of life was assessed using the European Organization
for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Cancer 30 (EORTC QLQ C30)
a
quality
of
life
measurement
scale
for
cancer
patients.
To
determine
the
relationship
between
quality
of
life
scores
and
nutritional
status
multivariable
linear
regression
was
used.
Results: A total of 411 consecutive breast cancer patients were included. A high prevalence of
moderate (30.9%) and severe (25.7%) malnutrition was observed. Regarding the quality of life
scores of these patients: The mean of overall quality of life of the study participants was (M=61.33
(SD=20.83)). Among the functional scale domains; the first domain with the highest mean score
was cognitive functioning (M=76.85 (SD=26.87)). The lowest mean among functional scales was
observed in social functioning (M=55.03 (SD=36.26)). The domain with the highest mean among
the symptom scales was fatigue (M=48.98 (SD=29.03)) The lowest mean scores were observed in
Nausea and vomiting (M=21.65 (SD=31.60)). Moderate and severe malnutrition were negatively
associated with overall quality of life β = −9.21 CI (−14.59, −4.67) and β = −17.81 CI (−16.6, −2.91) respectively. Malnutrition also showed negative associations with all domains of functional
status and strong positive associations with symptom scores covered in the EORTC QLQ C-30.
Conclusion: This study revealed that the magnitude of malnutrition in the breast cancer population
is very large and the compromization of their nutritional status also playes a significant role in
decreasing their quality of life.
.
Description
Keywords
Nutritional status ,Quality of life