Authors (including presenting author) :
Lam WS(1), Wong WS(1), Lee SPP(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Dietetic Department, United Christian Hospital
Objectives :
Nutrition support has been an integral part of care among patients receiving chemotherapy treatment. It becomes crucial and vital to ensure effective and efficient care which leads to clinical outcomes. The study aimed at examining selected nutrition outcomes using a protocol-driven nutrition support service model for patients on day chemotherapy.
Methodology :
Patients were admitted to day chemotherapy from 1 Aug 2020 to 30 Oct 2022 through day hospital were recruited. Oncology nursing team performed nutrition screening using Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST). Patients with MST ≥ score 2 underwent second cycle of chemotherapy were referred to dietitians for tailor-made nutrition intervention. Patient Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SCA) was used to compare selected nutrition parameters before and after nutrition interventions.
Result & Outcome :
A total of 132 were recruited and able to maintain their body weight, percentage of body fat, muscle mass and hand grip strength. Handgrip strength has been shown to be positively associated with survival duration in patients with cancer, whereas low muscle mass had been shown to be a risk factor for toxicity in cancer patients. The cohort significantly improved energy and protein intake (p <0.05) post-intervention. Furthermore, the PG-SGA scores were significantly reduced from 10.5 ± 5.8 to 6.7 ± 4.7 (p <0.005) because the higher the PG-SGA score the greater the risk for malnutrition. In summary, prevalence of malnutrition among oncology patients underwent chemotherapy could be managed by appropriate nutrition intervention.
