Consumo alimentar segundo o grau de processamento em pacientes cirúrgicos oncológicos em comparação aos não oncológicos

Abstract

Cancer is a multifactorial disease and each year its incidence increases. The carcinogenesis process results from the interaction between endogenous and environmental factors, especially the diet, which, when inadequate, increases the incidence of this disease, ultra-processed foods being potentially carcinogenic, which can contribute to the exacerbated growth of tumor cells. Surgery is a successful treatment for neoplasia, this invasive procedure generates metabolic alterations that can cause adverse body changes, in addition to that, the oncological treatment itself brings with it side effects that leave the patient's body vulnerable and weakened, and all these factors can lead to to the change in the patient's food consumption. The objective of this study was to evaluate food consumption according to the degree of processing of patients in the preoperative period of oncological surgeries. It is a cross-sectional study, with a non-probabilistic sample. For the acquisition of study variables, questionnaires were applied including demographic, socioeconomic, clinical, anthropometric and dietary variables. Consumption was obtained from an adapted food frequency questionnaire, weights being assigned to each of the FFQ categories to create frequency scores for each food group (in natura and minimally processed, processed and ultra-processed). A total of 106 patients were included, of which 49 were diagnosed with neoplastic diseases and 57 were non-oncological patients. Among the patients who had neoplastic diagnoses, 63% (n=29) had a hospitalstay <7 days, where the highest percentage underwent major surgery 42.9% (n=15), and elective 83.3% (n= 35), and it was also observed that 63.8% (n=30) had a diagnosis of SAH and/or DM. Of those who were not oncologists, 75% (n=42) had < 7 days of hospitalization and 75.6% (n=34) underwent elective surgeries. The total sample showed a higher consumption of fresh and minimally processed foods (0.1923 [0.1511-0.2387]), compared to processed (0.1525 [0.0850-0.2433]) and ultra-processed (0.0443 [0.0121-0.0855]) (p<0.001). A trend towards greater consumption of fresh and minimally processed foods was observed among women (p<0.10). There was marginal significance for higher median consumption of processed foods among individuals with higher education, diagnosed with thinness/low weight and female (p<0.10), with a significant difference also being evidenced for the lower consumption of processed foodsin patients from low economic class and who underwent major surgeries (p<0.05). It was possible to conclude that the degree of food processing consumed by oncology and nononcology patients in the preoperative period was characterized by a higher intake of in natura and minimally processed foods, with women being the ones who had the best intake of this food group. The education and economic class of the individuals studied were mostly low, and this factor may have tended the research result for this group. It is interesting that more studies are carried out regarding the degree of food processing of these patients with a larger and more diversified sample to expand the results.