Impact of Nutrition Education on Nutritional Status, Tolerance and Response to Chemotherapy: Experience at Douala General Hospital, Cameroon, Central Africa

Abstract

<i>Objective: </i>The overall aim of this study was to determine the impact of nutrition education on the tolerance and response to chemotherapy of cancer patients at Douala General Hospital. <i>Material and methods</i>: This was a 2-arm randomized comparative study done over a 5-months period from November 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017. A total of 107 patients with all cancers undergoing chemotherapy were randomized into 2 groups after obtaining their informed consent: the group that received nutrition education with each cycle of chemotherapy, and the group without nutrition education that received only the usual treatment.<i> Results</i>: The mean age was 46.6 ±15.3 years. The most common cancers were breast cancer (36.4%) and cervical cancer (19.4%). The incidence of undernutrition in our study population was 45.8%, of which 35.5% was moderate and 10.3% severe. Patients in the nutrition education group showed a marked improvement in their nutritional status after 3 cycles of chemotherapy, tolerated the treatment better and had a better response to it. Conversely, patients in the group without nutritional education showed a deterioration in their nutritional status, tolerated treatment less and also responded less to it. Moreover, in the latter group, the risk of not responding to treatment was 19.6 times greater than in patients who received nutritional follow-up. <i>Conclusion</i>: Nutritional education had a significant impact on patients' nutritional status, tolerance and response to chemotherapy.