Malnutrition risk in patients with lung cancer and its association with depression, anxiety and stress

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine malnutrition risk and its association with depression, anxiety and stress levels in hospitalised patients with lung cancer. METHODS: This correlational study included 456 individuals aged over 18 years who were diagnosed with lung cancer and hospitalised in a chest diseases hospital. Data were collected using an Introductory Information Form, the Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. RESULTS: Malnutrition risk was detected in 92.5% of the patients. This high prevalence should be interpreted in light of the clinical characteristics of the sample, which predominantly consisted of patients with advanced-stage and metastatic lung cancer. Factors associated with malnutrition risk included cancer stage, metastasis status, number of meals, skipping meals, age and body mass index. Depression, anxiety and stress were associated with malnutrition risk in bivariate analyses; however, only stress remained independently associated after multivariable adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Malnutrition risk was highly prevalent among hospitalised patients with lung cancer. Psychological symptoms were associated with malnutrition risk in bivariate analyses; however, only stress remained independently associated with malnutrition risk in multivariable analysis. These findings support the integration of nutritional risk screening and psychological assessment in hospitalised patients with lung cancer.