Nutritional Status Among Head and Neck Cancer Patients, Tanzania

Background:  Nutrition in cancer patients is a challenge as various mechanisms can lead to poor nutrition status, and this contributes to poor prognosis and quality of life. In developing countries, before one concludes that cancer is the culprit to malnutrition, one has to rule out access to food. The Head and Neck region is involved with the intake and initial processing of the food. Therefore, the presence of a tumor in any subsite directly affects nutritional status. Aim: This study aimed to establish nutritional adequacy among Head and Neck Cancer patients accessing services at a tertiary hospital in Tanzania. Method: The study was cross-sectional descriptive. Patients with head and neck cancer attended from 1st August 2022 to 31st January 2023 were recruited. Information about access to food was collected and nutrition was measured by anthropometric measurements and biochemical tests (serum albumin levels). After data collection, the correctness was checked by running frequency tables and analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Results: The study involved a total of 113 participants aged from 15 to 93 years with a mean age of 51.81+/-17.439 years. There were 74 males and 39 females, making a ratio of 1.9:1. Most participants had laryngeal tumours (46%). 85.6% of patients had advanced disease, stage IV (52.2%).17% of patients had pre-existing dietary risk, and 36.3% had severe malnourishment at presentation. In this study,75% of patients with oropharyngeal tumours had malnutrition, followed by hypopharyngeal and nasopharyngeal tumours, each with 66.7%. Stage IV patients were severely malnourished (57.6%) which was statistically significant. Conclusion and recommendation: Laryngeal tumours are common in men and are related to advanced age. Most of the patients with Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) had severe malnourishment. Management of head and neck cancer should also address malnutrition which contributes to poor prognosis and quality of life.