Assessment of the Nutritional Status of the Children with Acute Leukemia on Chemotherapy in Karbala City

Abstract

Acute leukemia is the most cancer has frequency in children, Malnutrition is one of the common complications of children with cancer, and malnutrition has been identified as a significant factor in treatment tolerance, increased morbidity, poor prognosis, reduced quality of life, and higher healthcare expenses. The study objective was to assess the nutritional status of children with acute leukemia during chemotherapy and find any association between malnutrition and the others factor. The study Methods were a case-control study conducted in Karbala city/Iraq, for 3 months, the study sample included 140 children (70 cases and 70 controls) aged (2 to 14) years, by using convenient sampling and use special questionnaire design and measuring anthropometric measures. The results revealed that the highest percentage of patients in the age group 5-10 years (47.1%), the boys were (55.7%), (52.9%) of patients live in urban, highly significant association (p.value < 0.001) of family history of cancer, has less physical activity and psychological effects on loss of appetite. Nutritional assessment during chemotherapy (48.6%) of case groups was normal weight, The results of this study indicate that the participants who had normal weight were at likely lower risk of complication acute leukemia than those with acute malnutrition (P. value=0.022; OR=0.297). According to the mid-upper arm composition assessment, the results show the highest percentage (35.7%, 34.3%) of patients were wasted and below average muscle area, and the highest percentage (51.4%, and 88.6%) of case and control groups were normal fat respectively. Effect of dietary habits can be summarized as the children treated with chemotherapy are consuming diets of medium quality, with little quantity Conclusion: the children with acute leukemia had a high association of malnutrition with low socioeconomic status, poor dietary habits, low physical activity, psychological effects, and duration and type of cancer therapy.