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Adapted ice cream as a nutritional supplement in cancer patients: impact on quality of life and nutritional status

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Abstract

Aims

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of adapted ice cream as a dietary supplement on the quality of life (QLQ) of malnourished patients with cancer.

Material and methods

We present an exploratory prospective observational study comparing two patterns of nutrition in cancer patients admitted during the study period who presented malnutrition disorders: adapted ice cream (Group I: 39 patients) and nutritional supplements (Group II: 31 patients). Patients were selected from two different hospitals from the same Oncologic Institute. QLQ was evaluated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and QLQ of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC QLQ C30). Nutrition was determined by the PG-SGA test.

Results

HADS showed significant differences in anxiety (p=0.023) and depression (p=0.011) at the end of the study only in Group I. QLQ-C30 revealed statistically significant differences in baseline measures of global dimension between the two groups (Group I: 40.64–56.36 CI; Group II: 25.70–43.11 CI; p=0.017). Differences were also present in the social dimension (Group I: 77.42–93.51 CI; Group II: 55.85–82.85 CI; p=0.039). Statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups at the end of the study in the global scale: Group I had 49.36-63.88 CI and Group II had 33.05–51.88 CI (p=0.016), and in the fatigue scale: Group I had 36.19-53.83 CI and Group II had mean=65.87, 52.50–79.23 CI (p=0.007).

Conclusions

The administration of ice cream could cover, in part, the social aspect of food and improve QLQ in malnourished cancer patients. These results are encouraging and deserve further confirmation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, IDIBAPS, C/Villarroel, 170, ES-08036, Barcelona, Spain

    Francesc Casas

  2. Psycho-Oncology Service, Institut Oncològic del Vallès (IOV, Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa), Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain

    Concha León

  3. Research Service, Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa, Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain

    Esther Jovell

  4. Medical Oncology Nursing Department, Institut Oncològic del Vallès (IOV, Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa), Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain

    Joana Gómez

  5. Helados Corvitto, Torroella de Montgrí, Girona, Spain

    Angelo Corvitto

  6. Medical Oncology Department, Institut Oncològic del Vallès (IOV, Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa), Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain

    Remei Blanco, Jordi Alfaro & Angels Arcusa

  7. Medical Oncology Department, Institut Oncològic del Vallès (IOV, Consorci Sanitari Parc Taulí), Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain

    Miguel Ángel Seguí & Eugeni Saigí

  8. Alicia Foundation, Sant Fruitós de Bages, Barcelona, Spain

    Toni Massanés

  9. Palliative Care Department, Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa, Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain

    Carme Sala & Anna Librán

Authors
  1. Francesc Casas
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  2. Concha León
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  3. Esther Jovell
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  4. Joana Gómez
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  5. Angelo Corvitto
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  6. Remei Blanco
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  7. Jordi Alfaro
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  8. Miguel Ángel Seguí
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  9. Eugeni Saigí
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  10. Toni Massanés
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  11. Carme Sala
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  12. Anna Librán
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  13. Angels Arcusa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesc Casas.

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Casas, F., León, C., Jovell, E. et al. Adapted ice cream as a nutritional supplement in cancer patients: impact on quality of life and nutritional status. Clin Transl Oncol 14, 66–72 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-012-0763-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-012-0763-9

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