Impact of nutritional status on the quality of life of advanced cancer patients in hospice home care.
BACKGROUND
Cancer patients frequently experience malnutrition and this is an important factor in impaired quality of life.


OBJECTIVE
This cross-sectional study examined the association between global quality of life and its various subscales with nutritional status among 61 (33 females and 28 males) advanced cancer patients cared for by selected hospices in peninsular Malaysia.


METHODS
The Patient Generated-Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and the Hospice Quality of Life Index (HQLI) were used to assess nutritional status and quality of life, respectively.


RESULTS
Nine (14.7%) patients were well-nourished, 32 (52.5%) were moderately or suspected of being malnourished while 20 (32.8%) of them were severely malnourished. The total HQLI mean score for these patients was 189.9-/+51.7, with possible scores ranging from 0 to 280. The most problem areas in these patients were in the domain of functional well-being and the least problems were found in the social/spiritual domain. PG-SGA scores significantly correlated with total quality of life scores (r2= 0.38, p<0.05), psychophysiological well-being (r2= 0.37, p<0.05), functional well-being (r2= 0.42, p<0.05) and social/ spiritual well-being (r2= 0.07, p<0.05). Thus, patients with a higher PG-SGA score or poorer nutritional status exhibited a lower quality of life.


CONCLUSIONS
Advanced cancer patients with poor nutritional status have a diminished quality of life. These findings suggest that there is a need for a comprehensive nutritional intervention for improving nutritional status and quality of life in terminally ill cancer patients under hospice care.
Shahmoradi
Negar
N
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. mirna@medic.upm.edu.my
Kandiah
Mirnalini
M
Peng
Loh Su
LS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016014:Linear Models; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011788:Quality of Life; D019452:Terminally Ill