Objectives Hematologic patients need to maintain a reasonable diet during treatment to enhance their nutritional status, as it is crucial in supporting their overall health and facilitating recovery. This study aims to explore the latent profiles of dietary intake among patients with hematologic diseases and identify the association of dietary profiles with nutrition status.

Methods A prospective cohort study involving 159 hematologic patients would receive the immunosuppressive therapy or chemotherapy was conducted. Nutritional risk screening (NRS-2002) and Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) were used for nutritional screening at admission and post-treatment. The dietary intake was consistently recorded by clinical research nurses in real-time daily throughout treatment. Latent profile analysis was performed to identify mutually exclusive profiles based on the daily intake of six food categories, including cereals and tubers, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, poultry and meat, and eggs. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to measure the association of dietary profiles and nutritional status by adjusting sociodemographic and treatment-related variables.

Results A statistically significant difference was observed in the risk changes of nutritional status as screened by both NRS-2002 and MUST between individuals before and after treatment (P were all <0.001). Three dietary profiles were identified with varying consumption of different types of foods, characterized by low, moderate, and high intake of most foods. Assessed by MUST, patients in the low intake group had a higher risk of malnutrition post-treatment than those in the moderate intake group (OR=3.14, 95%CI: 1.11-8.90). However, there was no difference in malnutrition risk changes across treatment between moderate intake and high intake groups (OR=1.57, 95%CI: 0.66-3.74). The results of multinomial logistic regression showed no significant difference in risk changes across treatments as assessed by NRS-2002 among the three dietary profiles.

Conclusions Hematologic patients with lower food intake in both quantity and variety during treatment may have an increased risk of malnutrition. Improving dietary practices for hematologic patients is essential to achieve better health outcomes.

Disclosures

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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2024
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