Influence of Enteral Nutrition on Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer and Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer Patients within a Pair-Matched Sample

Abstract

Patients with cancers of the head and neck and upper gastrointestinal tract are particularly susceptible to malnutrition, which worsens both their prognosis and quality of life and may result in the need for enteral or parenteral nutrition. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of enteral nutrition on the quality of life in a paired sample. This study included 50 patients with cancer in two paired subgroups: with enteral nutrition (studied group) and without enteral nutrition (matched group). This study was based on self-reports collected with the EORTC QLQ C30 questionnaire and retrospective analysis of medical records. The analysis revealed that weight loss, group type, and age were the primary factors influencing patients’ quality of life. Compared with all cancer patients and the general Polish population, the scores of patients in both groups were below reference values for functional scales and exceeded reference values or were similar for fatigue and vomiting/nausea. Patients who received enteral nutrition more frequently scored lower on the functional scales and higher on the symptomatic scales than the control group. These findings emphasize the complex relationship between cancer, nutritional status, and quality of life.