Screening for malnutrition in oral cavity cancer patients prior to treatment: A cross-sectional study

• Published in: Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association 2021-01, Vol.71 (1(A)), p.122-6
• Main Authors: Iftikhar, Haissan, Suhail, Anwar, Urooba, Amna, Nathani, Karim Rizwan, Shaikh, Zeeshan, Wasif, Muhammad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Cancer patients; Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diagnosis; Early Detection of Cancer; Female; Head and neck cancer; Humans; Male; Malnutrition; Malnutrition - diagnosis; Malnutrition - epidemiology; Mass Screening; Methods; Middle Aged; Mouth; Neoplasms; Nutrition; Nutrition Assessment; Nutritional Status; Preoperative care; Product/Service Evaluations; Prognosis; Retrospective Studies; Risk factors
• ISSN: 0030-9982
• DOI: 10.47391/JPMA.243

This study was conducted to assess the frequency of pre-operative malnourishment in patients being treated for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma. A retrospective chart review was carried out at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, on 62 patients. Patients were screened pre-operatively through a standard nutritional assessment tool at the time of admission to assess for malnutrition. Mean age of presentation was 48.34±13.11 years, mean height was 165 ± 8.62cm, weight 66.09±14.98 kg and BMI of 24.09±4.84. Males were 82.3% and 17.7% were females. At the time of admission, a significant number or patients, 12 (19.4%) were prone to malnourishment, while 3 (4.8%) patients were malnourished: Assessment was done by using a standardised nutritional assessment tool.