Nutritional Risk Assessment in Children with Cancer: A Longitudinal Study in North East of Iran

Abstract

<strong><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Background</span></em></strong><br /> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Children with cancer are in risk of malnutrition. Nutritional risk assessmentis more importance in developing countries. The aim of present study was to investigate the nutritional risk in admitted children with cancer.</span><br /> <strong><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Materials and Methods</span></em></strong><br /> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">One hundred admitted children newly diagnosed with cancer were studied at the time of admission, after 3 and 6 months.Demographic characteristics and anthropometrics indexes were recorded via standard and calibrated tools. Nutritional risk assessed according to modified Screening Tool for Assessment of Malnutrition in Pediatrics (STAMP).Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 16.0).</span><br /> <strong><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Results</span></em></strong><br /> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Of the 100 children 55 patients (55%) were female. The average age was 3.46±3.3 years. Hematologic tumors constituted 73.5% of patient. All patients were in nutritional risk. There was no patient with low nutritional risk during study; 17 patients (17%), 53 patients (56.4%), and 41 patients (43.6%) diagnosed with medium nutritional risk at the time of admission, after 3 and 6 months, respectively; 83 patients (83%), 41 patients (43.6%), and 40 patients (43%) diagnosed with high nutritional risk at the time of admission, after 3 and 6 months, respectively. Difference was significant (p<0.001).After 6 months,weight, height, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and body mass index (BMI) increased compared with the time of admission (p<0.05).</span><br /> <strong><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Conclusion</span></em></strong><br /> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">According to modified STAMP results, all studied patients were in the nutritional risk. Nutritional risk decreased during study. The nutritional risk decreased after 6 months in children newly diagnosed with cancer compared with the time of admission. </span>