Nutritional risk and associated factors in patients with head and neck cancer in a referral hospital in Brazil

Introduction: Head and neck cancer (HNC) is one of the most prevalent cancers, often associated with factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption. Malnutrition is common among these patients, with many showing nutritional risk even before treatment begins. Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with nutritional risk in patients with HNC. Methods: Patients with HNC from a referral cancer treatment hospital in Brazil were included in the study. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather socioeconomic and clinical information, and anthropometric assessment was performed. Nutritional risk was screened using the Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS-2002) and symptoms of nutritional impact were assessed through the "Head and Neck Symptoms Checklist." Binary logistic regression was used to quantify the influence of independent variables on the outcome, with a significance level of less than 5%. Results: Of the 132 study participants, 46.2% were at nutritional risk. Family income ≤ 2 minimum wages increased the chances of developing nutritional risk by 2.9 times (OR = 2.916; 95% CI = 1.017-8.359; p = 0.046). Additionally, each centimeter increase in calf circumference (CC) reduced the chances of being at nutritional risk by 24.9% (OR = 0.751; 95% CI = 0.646-0.873; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Individuals with lower income have higher chances of nutritional risk, while greater calf circumference contributes to a reduction in this risk, highlighting these factors as critical determinants of nutritional status in patients with HNC.