Nutritional screening in a cancer prehabilitation programme: A cohort study

BACKGROUND

Cancer patients are often malnourished pre-operatively. Study aims were to establish if current screening was appropriate for use in prehabilitation and investigate any association between nutritional risk, functionality and quality of life (QoL).

METHODS

This cohort study used routinely collected data from September 2020 to August 2021 from patients in a Prehab4cancer programme. Included patients were aged >18 years, had colorectal, lung or oesophago-gastric cancer and were scheduled for surgery. Nutritional assessment included patient generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) short-form and QoL with a sit-to-stand test. Association between nutritional risk and outcomes were analysed using adjusted logistic regression.

RESULTS

From 928 patients referred to Prehab4Cancer service over 12-months, data on nutritional risk were collected from 526 patients. Pre-operatively, 233 out of 526 (44%) patients were at nutritional risk (score ≥2). During prehabilitation, 31% of patients improved their PG-SGA and 74% of patients maintained or improved their weight. Odds ratios (OR) with confidence intervals (CI) showed that patients with better QoL using EuroQol-5 Dimensions (OR 0.05, 95% CI 0.01, 0.45, P=0.01), EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93, 1.00, p=0.04) or sit-to-stand (OR 0.96, 95% 0.93, 1.00, p=0.04) were less likely to be nutritional at risk.

CONCLUSION

Nearly half of patients in Prehab4Cancer programme assessed using PG-SGA were at risk of malnutrition. However, almost half of the sample did not have their risk assessed. Patients at risk of malnutrition were more likely to have a poorer QoL and sit-to-stand test than those who were not at risk. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

A Qualitative Exploration of Nutrition Screening, Assessment and Oral Support Used in Patients Undergoing Cancer Surgery in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Preoperative undernutrition is a prognostic indicator for postoperative mortality and morbidity. Evidence suggests that treating undernutrition can improve surgical outcomes. This study explored the provision of nutritional screening, assessment and support on surgical cancer wards in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This was a qualitative study and participants took part in one focus group or one individual interview. Data were analysed thematically. There were 34 participants from Ghana, India, the Philippines and Zambia: 24 healthcare professionals (HCPs) and 10 patients. Results showed that knowledge levels and enthusiasm were high in HCPs. Barriers to adequate nutritional support were a lack of provision of ward and kitchen equipment, food and sustainable nutritional supplements. There was variation across countries towards nutritional screening and assessment which seemed to be driven by resources. Many hospitals where resources were scarce focused on the care of individual patients in favour of an integrated systems approach to identify and manage undernutrition. In conclusion, there is scope to improve the efficiency of nutritional management of surgical cancer patients in LMICs through the integration of nutrition assessment and support into routine hospital policies and procedures, moving from case management undertaken by interested personnel to a system-based approach including the whole multidisciplinary team.