Nutritional profile of cancer patients treated at an outpatient oncology center in the south region of Brazil

To evaluate the nutritional profile of cancer patients treated at an oncology center in South Brazil.This is a descriptive, exploratory and sectional study that was developed in a process that involved 100 patients aged between 18 and 75 years old, suffering from cancer.The anthropometric variables studied were weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI), arm circumference (AC), arm muscle circumference (AMC),triceps skinfold (TSF) and corrected arm muscle area (cAMA). For subjective nutritional assessment, we used the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA). Nearly half of the patients evaluated had a critical need for nutritional intervention. There was a statistically significant association between cAMA and marital status, age and gender; between AC and age, gender and staging; between AMC and staging; between BMI and marital status and age; and between TSF and marital status. Patients diagnosed with IV stage had the lowest values for nutritional variables. There was no significant association between nutritional status of patients obtained by the PG-SGA instrument and sociodemographic characteristics. Malnutrition should be diagnosed as soon as possible,aiming at early intervention and improving survival and quality of life. Therefore, early nutritional assessment in cancer patients is required, combining subjective and objective methods.

The Correlation between Hand Grip Strength and Nutritional Variables in Ambulatory Cancer Patients.

Among the methods used in the nutritional assessment of cancer patients, handgrip strength (HGS), an important indicator of malnutrition, was chosen in this study. An observational cross-sectional study with the prospective collection. We analyzed 100 patients from the Oncology Department of Santa Rita Hospital, in Maringá city, Paraná, Brazil. To determine the clinical-pathological staging was used the Cancer Staging Manual. In the objective nutritional assessment, data to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI), arm muscle circumference (AMC), corrected arm muscle area (cAMA) and measurement of HGS were measured. In connection with the subjective method used, a Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) has been selected. Arm Circumference (AC) presents a significant association with the left hand HGS classification. The right hand HGS does not show a significant correlation with the analyzed variables. However, the results showed that patients with higher left hand HGS tend to present lower PG-SGA and higher AMC. HGS, as a predictor of nutritional vulnerability, has proved superiority for predicting clinical results in cancer patients. However, it requires more studies that investigate other nutritional variables to determine the nutritional risk in this population.