Quantifying Diet Quality Across Critical Periods of Cancer Survivorship: A Longitudinal Study.
The uncovering the long-term impact of oropharyngeal cancer and dysphagia on dietary quality and nutrition among cancer survivors (U-DINE) Study is a multisite longitudinal investigation of diet quality and nutritional risk across the oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) care continuum. U-DINE integrates dietary, clinical, and swallowing assessments from two clinical cohorts. Adults with primary, non-recurrent OPC are assessed at diagnosis, 3-6 months post-treatment, and 18-24 months post-treatment using standardized 24-hour dietary recalls and measures of food and nutrition security, barriers to healthy eating, and malnutrition risk. Among 333 participants, poor diet quality was pervasive. Very low (HEI-2020 51-70) or critically low (HEI-2020 ≤50) diet quality was observed in 130 of 132 participants (98.5%) at diagnosis, 35 of 36 (97.2%) post-treatment, and 158 of 165 (95.8%) during long-term survivorship; none had adequate diet quality. Critically low diet quality was observed in 35 of 58 non-White versus 154 of 275 White participants (60.3% vs. 56.0%), 18 of 27 females versus 171 of 306 males (66.7% vs. 55.9%), and 163 of 283 participants with HPV-positive versus 16 of 29 with HPV-negative tumors (57.6% vs. 55.2%). Among post-treatment and long-term survivors, critically low diet quality was observed in 8 of 10 participants treated with surgery alone (80.0%), 72 of 125 receiving radiation and chemotherapy (57.6%), 17 of 33 receiving radiation only (51.5%), and 15 of 30 receiving surgery plus radiation with or without chemotherapy (50.0%). Overall, 14 participants (4.2%) were lost to follow-up or withdrew. U-DINE findings demonstrate pervasive poor diet quality across OPC survivorship and support the feasibility of comprehensive dietary assessment. Its longitudinal design provides a framework for identifying dietary risk and barriers to healthy eating and informing targeted interventions across the cancer care continuum.
Authors
de Oliveira Otto de Oliveira Otto, Sandulache Sandulache, Tark Tark, Sandulache Sandulache, Sharma Sharma, Li Li, Hutcheson Hutcheson
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