Dr Doaa A Saleh
Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt
Title: Effect of Nutritional Counseling on Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Patients: An Intervention Study
Biography
Biography: Dr Doaa A Saleh
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of nutrition counselling (NC) on the quality of life (QoL) of breast cancer patients (grade 2) receiving chemotherapy.
A total of 100 patients were enrolled in the study, where 50 patients were assigned to the NC group and 50 patients to the control group. NC group received four NC sessions over 6 weeks. QoL assessment was done at baseline, and then after two and three months using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). The EORTC QLQ-C30 version 3.0 is a 30-item core cancer-specific questionnaire measuring QoL in cancer patients and incorporates five functional scales; physical (PF), role (RF), cognitive (CF), emotional (EF) and social (SF), three symptom scales for fatigue, pain and nausea / vomiting, a global health QoL scale, and several single items for the perceived financial impact of disease and treatment and for the assessment of additional symptoms such as dyspnoea, appetite loss, sleep disturbance, constipation and diarrhea, which are commonly reported by cancer patients.
At baseline, no significant difference was found in the symptom scales and in 2 of the functional scales (EF and CF) between the NC and control group (p>0.05). However, three functional scales (PF, RF and SF) and the global health QoL scale were significantly higher among the control vs. NC group (p<0.05).
At 2 and 3 months after the intervention; PF, RF, CF and EF and all symptom scales (except constipation) showed significant progressive improvement among both NC and control groups (p<0.05). However, the percent change of these scales was significantly higher among the NC group when compared to the control (p<0.05). Unlike controls, NC group showed significant progressive improvement of global health QoL scale, as well as SF, constipation and dyspnea scales (p<0.05). Though insignificant, yet Financial difficulties’ scale showed slight improvement among both NC and control groups (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Nutritional counseling is necessary to improve QoL of breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, thus should be included in the routine health care provided to breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.