P021 - NUTRITION PROFILE OF HEAD AND NECK CANCER INPATIENTS REFERRED TO THE SECTION OF MEDICAL NUTRITION OF A PRIVATE TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN THE PHILIPPINES

P021

NUTRITION PROFILE OF HEAD AND NECK CANCER INPATIENTS REFERRED TO THE SECTION OF MEDICAL NUTRITION OF A PRIVATE TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN THE PHILIPPINES

J. A. Yap^1,2,*, F. K. España¹

¹Section of Medical Nutrition - Department of Internal Medicine , The Medical City, Pasig City, ²Department of Family and Community Medicine, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Cebu City, Philippines

Rationale: Malnutrition as a comorbidity in Head and Cancer affects treatment completion rates and treatment-associated complications emphasizing the need for early nutrition screening, assessment and specialist referral for optimal patient outcomes. This study describes the nutrition profile of Head and Neck cancer (HNC) patients admitted in a tertiary hospital in the Philippines.

Methods: This is a retrospective descriptive study involving 50 patients aged 19-91 years old with Head and Neck cancer who were referred to the Section of Medical Nutrition. Nutrition profile was determined using BMI, weight loss and Nutrition Risk Sreening 2002 (NRS 2002) score. Appropriate measures of central tendency and dispersion and frequencies and proportion analyses were performed on data collected.

Results: Of the 50 patients, 64% were males. Nasopharyngeal cancer was the predominant cancer type (30%), in the advanced stage of the disease (48%). Half the patients (50%) were referred during treatment. Low BMI was seen in 32% of patients. Weight loss of 5-15% and >15% were seen 36% and 32% of patients, respectively. NRS score of >3 were seen in 74% of patients. Most patients were on oral feeding as the pre-referral feeding route (76%) and, despite nutrition intervention prior to the referral (74%), most patients still had inadequate intake (36%).

Conclusion: Patients with Head and Neck Cancer show low BMI, weight loss of >5%, Nutrition Risk Screening 2002 score of >3 and had persistent inadequate intake prior to referral to the Section of Medical Nutrition of a private tertiary hopsital in the Philippines.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared