Factors affecting the obesity of the South Korean breast cancer patients as determined using propensity score matching

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to identify the factors affecting the obesity of breast cancer patients and to provide basic data for the development of an effective obesity management program for them using the propensity score matching method and data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) with a bigger sample size and a higher level of representativeness. In this study, 231 breast cancer patients who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had been treated for more than 3 months among the adult KNHANES participants (aged 19 and older) were selected. The results of this study showed that the degree of physical activity, the number of days of doing strength exercise, the food intake reduction level, the protein intake ratio, and the thermal effect of food affected the obesity of the breast cancer patients. Therefore, future studies are needed to examine the factors associated with the obesity management of breast cancer patients in various aspects, using a wide range of data, and to suggest political measures for managing the obesity of breast cancer patients.