Abstract
Purpose
To assess whether women with endometrial cancer could accurately classify their weight and identify the association between obesity and risk of endometrial, breast, and colon cancers.
Methods
This was an IRB-approved (Project No. 14-0075), survey-based cross-sectional study of women ages 18–80 years with a diagnosis of endometrial cancer. Patients were at least 6 months from hysterectomy and 3 months from chemotherapy or radiation. Statistical analysis was completed using Fisher’s exact test, T test, ANOVA, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, or Kruskal–Wallis test. P values were two-tailed with P < 0.05 considered statistically significant.
Results
140 women met inclusion criteria, and 133 questionnaires (95.0%) were completed. Mean age was 63.2 years (range 35–80), and mean BMI was 33.4 kg/m2 (range 17.6–72.2). Patients were primarily Caucasian (88.7%) and reported education beyond high school (67.8%). Among women with BMI 30.0–34.99 kg/m2, 12.9% perceived themselves as obese, compared to 32.0% of women with BMI 35.0–39.99 kg/m2, and 72.7% of women with BMI >40.0 kg/m2. Ability to correctly classify weight correlated significantly with education level (P = 0.02). Less than half of women identified obesity as a risk factor for breast (49.6%), colon (48.1%), and endometrial cancer (44.4%). 77% of all patients had discussed weight with their primary care doctor, and 38% had discussed weight with their oncologist (P < 0.001).
Conclusions
The majority of obese women with endometrial cancer surveyed were unable to accurately classify their weight. Given the inconsistency between patient weight and perception of cancer risk, this represents an opportunity for gynecologic oncologists to educate their patients about weight control.
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Acknowledgements
Approval was obtained from the Women and Infants Hospital Institutional Review Board (Project No. 14-0075) prior to data collection.
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The authors (EV Connor, CA Raker, MA Clark, and AR Stuckey) declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
All procedures performed in this study, which involved human participants, were in accordance with the ethical standards of our institution, were approved by our Institutional Review Board, and are in compliance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
A statement of informed consent was included at the top of the survey instrument explaining that participation was voluntary, that responses would be maintained as anonymous, and that survey responses would not impact their clinical care.
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Connor, E.V., Raker, C.A., Clark, M.A. et al. Obesity risk awareness in women with endometrial cancer. Arch Gynecol Obstet 295, 965–969 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-017-4301-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-017-4301-4