Prevalence and factors associated with malnutrition on patients with cancer in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

Malnutrition is related to the development of chronic diseases, including cancer and is a major cause of mortality in patients with cancer. The study aimed to understand the prevalence and factors associated with malnutrition among patients with cancer.This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of malnutrition among patients with cancer and its relationship with sociodemographic status and treatments. Patients’ nutritional diagnosis was performed using the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) tool. The performance status (PS) was obtained from the scale developed by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG). Data were collected from two hospitals from January to March 2023. A χ2test and multinominal regression analysis were performed by SPSS V.25.Out of 275 patients, 164 (60%) were male, with the mean age of 49.54 years (SD 15.61). Of these, 184 patients (67%) were malnourished of whom 149 patients (54%) had moderate and 35 patients (13%) had severe malnutrition. Patients’ age, sex, PS, cancer site, treatment modalities, duration and hospitalisation were significantly associated with nutritional status (p<0.05). Patients between the ages of 40 and 60 were 2.96 times more likely to be malnourished compared with those younger than 40 (adjusted odd ratio (AOR) 2.96; 95% CI 1.40 to 6.24). Female patients had 7.74 times higher risk of malnutrition compared with male patients (AOR 7.74; 95% CI 2.03 to 19.80). Malnutrition was 2.6 times higher for surgical patients compared with nonsurgical ones (AOR 2.60; 95% CI 1.29 to 5.26). The risk of malnutrition was 4.06 times greater in patients treated longer than 12 months compared with those treated less than 6 months (AOR 4.06; 95% CI 1.82 to 9.08).There is a high prevalence of malnutrition among patients with cancer, and it is essential to include regular nutritional assessment in the treatment process for better outcomes.