FATORES DETERMINANTES DA QUALIDADE DE VIDA EM UMA COORTE DE PACIENTES SUBMETIDOS À QUIMIOTERAPIA

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this study is to evaluate of the influence of nutritional status on quality of life (QOL) in a cohort of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy (CT). Patients and Methods: Patients who began CT in an Universitary Hospital were evaluated prospectively. Nutritional status was assessed by Patientgenerated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and QOL was assessed by World Health Organization Quality of Life-bref scale (WHOQOL-bref). PG-SGA and WHOQOL-bref scale were applied in the beginning and in the end of the study. Results: One hundred ninety one patients were evaluated and 64.4% (n=123) were females, aged 58.03 years. Most of them performed neoadjuvant or adjuvant CT (67%) and 38.9% were in stage II. The malnutrition prevalence in the first evaluation was 29.6%. Malnourished patients showed the worst QOL in the beginning and in the end of the treatment. Forty two percent of the patients had an increased nutritional risk in the final evaluation. There was a significant association between the presence of symptoms and increased nutritional risk (p<0.001). Moreover, it was found a significant negative correlation between the variations in physical domain and nutritional risk scores, showing that as nutritional risk decreases, there was an increase in QOL. Conclusion: We concluded that modifications in nutritional risk are associated to modifications in QOL in cancer patients. It was suggested that these patients should receive a multidisciplinary attendance in order to minimize the collateral 25 effects of CT and decreasing nutritional risk, with positive repercussions in QOL