Atlantic Technological University, Galway, Ireland.
School of Allied Health, University of Limerick, Limerick, V94 T9PX, Ireland.
Ir J Med Sci. 2024 Jun;193(3):1171-1182. doi: 10.1007/s11845-023-03572-7. Epub 2023 Nov 27.
Cancer and its associated side effects can cause changes in dietary intakes of people with cancer due to a variety of nutrition impact symptoms. These symptoms can lead to suboptimal dietary intakes which negatively affect muscle mass and therefore survivorship. The aim of this qualitative study was to assess the nutrition needs and dietary changes made by cancer patients in Ireland.
Online focus groups were completed with cancer patients and caregivers, and demographic information was collected via an online questionnaire. An inductive thematic analysis approach was utilised to derive themes and subthemes from the data.
Four online focus groups were held with cancer patients and caregivers (n = 15) which reflected 18 total cancer experiences. Novel themes identified from this research included that symptoms were varied and transient-coming and going rapidly-and that patients were not satisfied with dietetic and broader nutrition services provided by hospitals. Themes that aligned with previous research were the severity and variety of nutrition impact symptoms and the variety of both evidence-based and non-evidence-based nutrition strategies used by patients to overcome nutrition impact symptoms, as general coping strategies, and potentially due to the belief that nutrition can be curative.
Treatment of nutrition impact symptoms must be rapid and responsive. The development of responsive self-management resources such as booklets and apps for patients is likely to be valuable to ensure that patients can access support for their nutrition impact symptoms as-and when-they occur. Nutrition support must be integrated across the multi-disciplinary team to optimise trust in nutrition strategies.
癌症及其相关副作用会导致癌症患者的饮食摄入发生变化，这是由于各种营养影响症状所致。这些症状可能导致饮食摄入不足，从而对肌肉质量产生负面影响，进而影响生存。本定性研究的目的是评估爱尔兰癌症患者的营养需求和饮食变化。
通过在线焦点小组的方式完成了癌症患者和护理人员的调查，同时通过在线问卷收集了人口统计学信息。采用归纳主题分析方法从数据中得出主题和子主题。
进行了 4 次在线焦点小组讨论，参与者包括癌症患者和护理人员（n=15），共反映了 18 种癌症经历。本研究中确定了一些新的主题，包括症状具有多样性和短暂性——迅速出现和消失——以及患者对医院提供的饮食和更广泛的营养服务不满意。与先前研究一致的主题包括营养影响症状的严重程度和多样性，以及患者为克服营养影响症状而采用的各种基于证据和非基于证据的营养策略，这些策略通常作为一般应对策略，可能是因为患者认为营养具有治疗作用。
必须迅速有效地治疗营养影响症状。为确保患者在出现营养影响症状时能够获得支持，开发针对患者的响应式自我管理资源（如手册和应用程序）可能很有价值。必须在多学科团队中整合营养支持，以优化对营养策略的信任。
