Determination of Disease-Related Risk Factors, Malnutrition Status, and Quality of Life of Individuals Receiving Treatment for Head and Neck Cancer: A Case-Control Study.

Nisa Nur Ücebakan, Nural Erzurum Alim, Osman Tuğrul Güzeldir

Journal: Nutrition and cancer 2025;76(9):831-839

PMID: 38950591

Abstract

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate disease-related risk factors, malnutrition status, and life quality of individuals receiving treatment for head and neck cancer.

METHODS

This study which was done at a private hospital for 1 year, was comprised of 42 individuals, with 21 head and neck cancer patients (PG) and 21 controls (CG). Anthropometric measurements were taken, and biochemical parameters were analyzed. The NRS-2002 test was applied to assess malnutrition status. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Head and Neck Module (EORTC-QLQ-H&N-35) were used to determine individuals' life quality.

RESULTS

Smokers were 10.264 times more likely to develop the disease than nonsmokers. When serum albumin level increased by 1 unit, the risk of the disease decreased by 32.8%. Results indicated that patients with a risk of malnutrition exhibited statistically significant levels of pain, verbal communication, social-eating, sexuality, limited mouth-opening capacity, and weight-loss compared to those without a risk of malnutrition ( < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Malnutrition status of individuals was found to affect quality of life. Smoking and low serum albumin levels have been found to be risk factors for head and neck cancer.

Address: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Institute of Health Sciences, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara, Turkey.; Department of Otolaryngology, Ankara Koru Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.

DOI: 10.1080/01635581.2024.2365470

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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/01635581.2...

MeSH Terms: Humans, Male, Young Adult, Adult, Turkey, Hospitals, Private, Surveys and Questionnaires, Cross-Over Studies, Case-Control Studies, Ambulatory Care Facilities, Head and Neck Neoplasms, Cross-Sectional Studies, Anthropometry, Nutritional Status, Nutrition Assessment, Quality of Life, Logistic Models, Statistics, Nonparametric, Serum Albumin, Human, Risk Factors, Risk Assessment, Malnutrition, Smoking