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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1479918
This article is part of the Research Topic Nutrition and Metabolism in Cancer: Role in Prevention and Prognosis View all 15 articles

Poor Nutrition Doubles Post-COVID-19 Syndrome Risk in Cancer Patients: Insights from a Chinese Multicentre Study

Provisionally accepted
liangyuan zhang liangyuan zhang 1Haihang Yu Haihang Yu 1*Jianzhou Yang Jianzhou Yang 2*Rila Su Rila Su 3Jia Qi Zhang Jia Qi Zhang 1Rongbiao Zeng Rongbiao Zeng 1*Yajie Liu Yajie Liu 1*Lei Zhang Lei Zhang 1*Junjie Xu Junjie Xu 1
  • 1 Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, China
  • 2 Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, Shanxi Province, China
  • 3 Johns Hopkins Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Since 2019, approximately 760 million SARS-CoV-2 cases have been reported globally, with post-COVID-19 syndrome posing significant challenges for cancer patients due to their immunosuppressed status and poor nutritional conditions. The role of nutritional status in influencing their infection risk and post-COVID-19 outcomes remains unclear, underscoring the need for targeted research and strategies. Objective: To investigate the impact of baseline nutritional status on SARS-CoV-2 infection and the risk of post-COVID-19 syndrome in cancer patients. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2022 to June 2023 in four tertiary hospitals across China. Cancer inpatients aged 18 years and older were enrolled and classified into two groups based on their Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS) scores. The correlation between SARS-CoV-2 infection, post-COVID-19 syndrome and nutritional status were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression.Results: Among 834 eligible cancer patients, 10.8% were in the high nutritional risk group (NRS ≥ 3). The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 58.8% (95% confidence interval, CI: 56.8%-60.8%), and post-COVID-19 syndrome was 21.0% (95% CI: 10.4%-14.4%). After adjusting for confounding factors, the high nutritional risk group had a significantly higher prevalence of post-COVID-19 syndrome compared to the low nutritional risk group (32.7% vs. 19.5%, AOR: 2.37, 95% CI: 1.23-4.54, P=0.010). However, no significant difference in SARS-CoV-2 infection rates was found between the two groups (61.1% vs. 58.5%, AOR: 1.12, 95% CI: 0.70-1.80; P=0.634).Interpretation: Poor baseline nutritional status in cancer patients is associated with a higher prevalence of post-COVID-19 syndrome, providing preliminary information on post-COVID-19 syndrome in this population. These findings underscore the importance of adequate nutritional management in cancer patients, particularly during pandemic recurrences.

    Keywords: cancer patients, COVID-19, Nutritional Status, post COVID-19 syndrome, Multicentre cross-sectional study

    Received: 13 Aug 2024; Accepted: 01 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 zhang, Yu, Yang, Su, Zhang, Zeng, Liu, Zhang and Xu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Haihang Yu, Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, China
    Jianzhou Yang, Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, 046000, Shanxi Province, China
    Rongbiao Zeng, Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, China
    Yajie Liu, Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, China
    Lei Zhang, Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.