Association between nutritional status assessed by a digital self-administered tool (R+ dietitian) and clinicopathologic factors in cancer patients: A comprehensive analysis

Abstract

Objective Malnutrition is prevalent among cancer patients, smartphone-based self-administered nutritional assessment tools offer a promising solution for effective nutritional screening. This study aims to retrospectively analyze the relationships between nutritional status evaluated by the digital tool (R+ Dietitian) and clinicopathologic factors of cancer patients. Methods Cancer patients who met the inclusion criteria were divided into two subgroups based on age, Nutritional Risk Screening-2002, Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form, body mass index, and hospital stays for comparison. Correlation and regression analysis were used to comprehensively assess the relationship between nutritional status and clinicopathologic factors. Findings A total of 535 hospitalized cancer patients (58.32 ± 11.24 years old) were recruited. Patients identified with nutritional risk assessed by R+ Dietitian were significantly older, had lower body weight, lower body mass index, greater weight loss, and longer hospital stays (all of above, P < 0.01). Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that serum prealbumin concentration (odds ratio: 0.992, 95% confidence interval: 0.987–0.997, P = 0.001), weight loss (odds ratio: 7.309, 95% confidence interval: 4.026–13.270, P < 0.001), and body mass index < 18.5 (odds ratio: 5.882, 95% confidence interval: 2.695–12.821, P < 0.001) predicted nutritional risk indicated by Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 score ≥3. Hemoglobin concentration (odds ratio: 0.983, 95% confidence interval: 0.970–0.996, P = 0.011), weight (odds ratio: 1.111, 95% confidence interval: 1.056–1.169, P < 0.001), weight loss (odds ratio: 7.502, 95% confidence interval: 4.394–12.810, P < 0.001), body mass index (odds ratio: 0.661, 95% confidence interval: 0.564–0.775, P < 0.001), and energy intake (odds ratio: 0.996, 95% confidence interval: 0.995–0.997, P < 0.001) predicted nutritional risk indicated by Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form score ≥4. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form scores ≥3 ( b = 2.032, P = 0.008) were significantly associated with longer hospital stays. Conclusions The nutritional risks assessed by R+ Dietitian accurately reflected the characteristics of malnutrition in cancer patients and predicted hospital stay and cost, indicating the applicability of R+ Dietitian to improving the efficiency of nutritional management for cancer patients.