Stress and nutrition in cancer patients treated with chemotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic

With the onset of Covid-19, the stress load on cancer patients has increased more and due to increased fear and anxiety, the chemotherapy treatment process, the diet of the patients and the stress load have also been adversely affected. This study was planned to reveal the psychological and physiological effects of Covid-19 on cancer patients and possible effects such as nutritional levels. 30 female and 30 male patients who received chemotherapy treatment in accordance with the criteria in Malatya Oncology Hospital were included in the study. Most of the patients participating in the study are in stage 3 and 4. Of these patients, 43.3% had breast cancer and 30.0% had colon-rectum cancer. As data collection tools; Various tools were used to evaluate the nutritional status, together with the Covid-19 Fear Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale. Mean and standard deviation (SD) were calculated for continuous variables.When the Covid-19 fear scale scores of all patients who received chemotherapy in cancer were evaluated, and the relationships between daily consumed energy and nutrients were evaluated, it was observed that the average energy consumption, carbohydrate intake and vitamin A levels decreased with the increase in the covid-19 fear scores of the patients, while protein, fat, vitamin C and E vitamin levels were decreased. consumption was found to increase (p>0.05). In addition, a significant difference was found between the stress level of the patients and their covid fear scores (p<0.05). According to some statements determined by the investigation technique obtained from the patients, significant differences were found between the current and previous week's loss of appetite, depression, and gender (p<0.05). It was stated that female patients usually eat 2 meals a day, and the snacks in our study were 80% more preferred by female patients. When the 24-hour food consumption results of the patients were analyzed, a statistically significant difference was found in the fluorine variable according to the gender of the patients, but no significant difference was found between the other variables (p<0.05).