Eureka! Institutional Repository

Aim: The evaluation of nutritional status, food intake and nutritional knowledge and practices among women with breast cancer being under chemotherapy. Sample: A total of 85 women (aged between 33-78 years old), on chemotherapy were recruited from the Theagenion Cancer Hospital in Thessaloniki, during September- February (2016-2017. Nutritional status was assessed by nutritional assessment tools such as SGA, MNA, MUST and CNAQ whereas their food intake and nutritional knowledge and practices by the method of 24h recall and EAT and HDDS questionnaires, respectively. Results: Patients had a mean current BMI of 29.2±5.6 kg/m2, a mean weight of 76.4±15.0 kg and fluctuated their weight up to 1 to 5 kg post diagnosis. Weight gain correlated with diagnosis at a younger age whilst loss with food intake and appetite reduction due to chemotherapy side effects. Overall, malnutrition didn’t occurred with reference to SGA, MUST, MNA contradicting CNAQ which classified patients in frequently assessment. Furthermore, they appeared nutritional knowledge deficient according to EAT (43.2±10.1/100), which was positively correlated with educational status and food diversity (r=0.321). Finally, their nutrition intake didn’t meet patients dietary calorie needs while the dietary fat covered 44.3 % of their total energy intake. Conclusion: Frequent assessment is required in breast cancer patients. In addition, nutritional knowledge and practices should be improved whereas a healthy and efficient diet must be adopted.