VARIATIONS IN DIETARY HABITS DURING CANCER TREATMENT: RESULTS OF A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY/VARIJACIJE U PREHRAMBENIM NAVIKAMA TIJEKOM LIJECENJA ZBOG KARCINOMA: REZULTATI PRESJECNOG ISTRAZIVANJA

• Published in: Acta clinica Croatica (Tisak) 2024-03, Vol.63 (1), p.80
• Main Authors: Ennouri, Sana, Daoud, Nouha, Berrazegua, Yosra, Benna, Houda El, Korbi, Sinene, Rachdi, Haifa, Mejri, Nesrine, Labidi, Soumaya, Boussen, Hammouda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast cancer; Demographic aspects; Diagnosis; Diet therapy; Food habits; Forecasts and trends; Health aspects; Patient education; Social networks; Surveys; Women
• ISSN: 0353-9466
• DOI: 10.20471/acc.2024.63.01.10

We aimed to explore variations in dietary habits in cancer patients according to clinical and demographic characteristics. We conducted a cross-sectional survey on cancer patients treated with systemic therapy. The survey included 42 items concerning demographic and clinical data, observed dietary modifications and oncologist implication. All patients gave their informed consent to participate in the study. Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows software version 20 was used on statistical analysis. The study involved 110 patients (female 71.8% and male 28.2%), mean age 53.4 years. They were treated mostly for breast cancer (58.2%). Patients reduced or stopped taking canned products (70%), milk (59.1%), red meat (80%), processed meat (76.4%), fatty food (88%) and sugar (83.6%). Conversely, preferred food were fish (73.6%), fruits and vegetables (95.5%), and honey (54.5%). Weight loss of 5 kg or more was higher among patients on a sugar restrictive diet (p=0.026). Thirty-five patients discussed diet with their oncologist. Patients received information on diet from the internet and other patients. Our findings suggested that patients were aware of the role of a balanced diet and made many changes. However, most of the patient information was derived from informal sources. Key words: Feeding behavior; Neoplasms; Health communication Cilj nam je bio ispitati varijacije uprehrambenim navikama kod bolesnika s karcinomom u odnosu na klinicke i demografske znacajke. Proveli smo presjecno istrazivanje u bolesnika s karcinomom lijecenih sistemskom terapijom. Studija je obuhvatila 42 pitanja s demografskim i klinickim podacima, zabiljezenim prehrambenim promjenama te ukljucenost onkologa. Svi bolesnici dali su svoju obavijestenu privolu za ukljucenje u istrazivanje. Statisticka analiza provedena je primjenom programa SPSS for Windows ver. 20. U istrazivanje je ukljuceno 110 bolesnika (71,8% zenskih i 28,2% muskih) srednje dobi od 53,4 godine. Oni su uglavnom lijeceni zbog raka dojke (58,2%). Bolesnici su smanjili ili prestali uzimati konzervirane proizvode (70%), mlijeko (59,1%), crveno meso (80%), obradeno meso (76,4%), masnu hranu (88%) i secer (83,6%). Nasuprot tome, prednost su davali hrani kao sto je riba (73,6%), voce i povrce (95,5%) te med (54,5%). Gubitak tezine od 5 kg ili vise bio je veci medu bolesnicima na prehrani sa smanjenim udjelom secera (p=0,026). O prehrani je sa svojim onkologom razgovaralo 35 bolesnika. Bolesnici su informacije o pre