Parâmetros Nutricionais em Pacientes Oncológicos atendidos em um Centro de Referência no Sul de Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

Introduction: Nutritional counseling for patients with cancer is very important, because it can prevent\xa0 utritional deficiencies and other serious complications. Objective: To evaluate the nutritional profile of oncological patients. Method: Cross-sectional study, carried out at a reference center in Oncology, Alfenas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Dietary and anthropometric methods (body mass index [BMI], triceps skinfold [TS], arm circumference [AB], arm muscle circumference [AMC], and percentage of weight loss [PWL]) were used to trace the nutritional profile of 52 oncological patients (n=52) during chemotherapy. Other conditions of\xa0 health were also evaluated. Results: There was a predominance of female sex (63%), and the age group >50 years (40% CI95[%] 27-53.7). The type of cancer correlated with patient’s sex (p 0.05) at the end of the treatment, but 40% of the patients had a severe PWL, 23% no severe PWL, 4% kept the weight, and 33% presented weight gain. Among the patients evaluated,\xa0 48% used nutritional supplements. Conclusion: Nutritional counseling should be developed together with oncological patients, since we showed a variable nutritional profile in a heterogeneous sample of patients.