The potential of malnutrition among colorectal cancer adult patients: case-control study

Abstract EN

Malnutrition is common among cancer patients, and screening for nutritional risk can identify those at risk for malnutrition early.

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition among individuals with CRC.

This study was a retrospective case-control study with 66 adult CRC patients and 134 healthy controls.

Patients were randomly selected from the outpatient clinic at Menoufia University Teaching Hospital.

Researchers collected socioeconomic status, health history, anthropometric indices, and nutritional status data.

The malnutrition screening tool (MST) was applied to classify participants according to their nutritional status.

Results revealed that more than half of CRC patients and controls were males.

Most patients (57.6% ) held a secondary certificate, while most controls (37.3% ) held a university degree.

Most cases (74.2% ) resided in rural areas, whereas most controls (61.2% ) were in urban areas.

Patients with CRC had significantly (P<0.001) lower BMIs.

Moderate appetite loss was prevalent among 71.2% of CRC patients, and 83.3% lost weight unintentionally.

According to the MST, 84.9% of CRC patients were malnourished.

Most respondents (65.2% and 64.9% , respectively) consume dairy products (milk and cheese) daily.

Approximately 90% of whole respondents consumed at least two servings of cereal or eggs weekly.

Most controls (59% ) ingested at least one serving of meat (meat, fish, and poultry) daily, whereas the majority of CRC patients (69.7% ) did not.

The control subjects consumed more fruits and vegetables.

In conclusion, more than four-fifths of CRC patients were at risk for malnutrition, and most did not consume sufficient amounts of essential foods.