Nutrition Assessment and Counseling in Integrative Cancer Care: Effects on Patient Self-Reported Symptoms

Area of Science:

• Integrative oncology
• Clinical nutrition
• Patient-reported outcomes

Background:

• Nutrition guidance impacts cancer treatment and survival.
• The effect of a single nutrition consult on patient outcomes is not well understood.
• This study examines patient characteristics and symptom changes after one nutrition consult in an integrative oncology setting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe patients referred for a single outpatient nutrition consult.
• To examine the effects of this consult on self-reported symptoms.
• To analyze patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and referral reasons.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective chart review of 1517 adult oncology patients.
• Data extraction included demographics, clinical characteristics, and referral reasons.
• Symptom assessment using Modified Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (mESAS) and PROMIS10 scores; statistical analysis with Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Main Results:

• Most patients were white, female, overweight/obese with non-advanced breast cancer (mean age 55.3).
• Referral reasons included lifestyle change, weight management, and nutrition knowledge deficit.
• Symptom scores were mild at baseline; changes post-consult were statistically, but not clinically, significant.

Conclusions:

• Patients had mild baseline symptoms and showed statistically insignificant clinical improvement after one nutrition consult.
• Further research should explore strategies to enhance nutrition interventions.
• Investigating the impact of multiple follow-up sessions is recommended.