Abstract
BackgroundDietary preferences vary depending on cancer type. The purpose of this study was to report dietary intervention preferences and a study program evaluation from post-treatment head and neck cancer survivors participating in a dietary intervention.MethodsBetween January 2015 and August 2016, 24 head and neck cancer survivors participated in a 12-week randomized clinical dietary intervention trial that promoted weekly consumption of 2.5 cups of cruciferous vegetables and 3.5 cups of green leafy vegetables. At study completion, survivors completed a preferences survey and a study program evaluation to probe interests and improvement aspects for planning future dietary intervention trials. Descriptive statistics (means and frequencies) were generated for multiple choice question responses. Responses to open-ended questions were recorded and grouped based on themes, and verified by quality assurance checks by a second study team member.ResultsTwenty-three survivors completed the preferences and evaluation surveys (response rate 96%). Overall, most participants reported a preference for one-on-one telephone counseling from a registered dietitian nutritionist before beginning treatment. Ninety-six percent of participants ranked the overall study program as “very good” to “excellent,” and all agreed the objectives of the study were clear, the study staff was helpful and easy to contact, and the registered dietitian nutritionist was knowledgeable.ConclusionsFuture research and dietary intervention planning for head and neck cancer survivors should focus on strategies to promote one-on-one telephone or other distance-based counseling combined with face-to-face visits, according to survivor preference.
Highlights
Head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors are at high risk of malnutrition and weight loss after diagnosis due to invasive treatment and resulting symptoms affecting the ability and desire to eat [1]
Participants were randomized to two groups: (1) an attention control group (n = 12) that received weekly telephone counseling from a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) focusing on general healthy eating for cancer survivors while addressing chronic side effects of treatment that might interfere with the ability or desire to eat; or (2) an experimental group (n = 12) who received the same weekly dietary counseling plus additional goals for consuming 2.5 and 3.5 cups of cruciferous (CV) and green leafy vegetables (GLV) per week, respectively
Likert-type responses The majority of participants indicated a preference for dietary counseling from a RDN while the largest proportion of participants preferred to receive telephonebased dietary counseling
Summary
Head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors are at high risk of malnutrition and weight loss after diagnosis due to invasive treatment and resulting symptoms affecting the ability and desire to eat [1]. A growing body of evidence suggests nutritional counseling and adequate energy, protein and diet quality are important for improving survival and QOL outcomes in HN and other cancer populations [3,4,5,6,7,8]. Despite the potential benefits of dietary counseling in HNC, interventions focused on diet quality are limited, and adherence to prescribed diets is poor [9, 10]. Given the high nutritional risk of this population, developing interventions that are appropriate and appealing to HNC survivors are needed in order to optimize participation and adherence. The purpose of this study was to report dietary intervention preferences and a study program evaluation from post-treatment head and neck cancer survivors participating in a dietary intervention
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