Assessment of nutritional status in cancer patients in Osijek health area center.

The aim of this research was to perform the nutritional screening and clinical assessment of malnutrition and of cachexia as well as the need for enteral nutritional support. We used an international questionnaire for nutrition screening and clinical assessment of malnutrition. 103 cancer patients participated in the research. The results indicate that 80patients (78%) have recently unintentionally lost weight in the last six months. Of those 80 patients 12 (15%) have lost more than 15 kilograms. Three patients (3%) suffer from hunger because of their inability to eat. Presence of multiple (3 or more) symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or anorexia) was reported by 11 patients (11%). Severe work dysfunction was found in 28 patients (27%). 14 patients (14%) experience significant loss of musculature (musculus quadriceps femoris, musculus deltoideus). The obtained results indicate that 15patients (14%) are severely, and 39 patients (38%) are moderately undernourished. This survey confirmed the significance of nutritional screening in cancer patients, as it detected 30 patients (29%) who required introduction of enteral nutrition.

Breast cancer detection: role of family physicians.

Croatia started implementing the national programs for early breast cancer detection in 2006, early detection of colon cancer and early detection of cervical cancer. A possible way to improve the adherence of the women to the screening on breast cancer could be by transferring the responsibility for the program implementation from the public health institutes to family physicians. The Project: "Model of early cancer detection integrated in a practice of family physician", was carried out by the Department of Family Medicine of the Osijek University School of Medicine. The results have shown that responsiveness of women invited to do preventive mammography was significantly higher in the experimental than in the control group. The central role of FM in the implementation of preventive programmes has already been recognized in many countries as an advantage from the organizational aspects and by means of decreased expenditure, compared to the vertical programmes with strict formal control centered to the public institutions.