Plant-based diet trends in oncology patients.

Abstract

e19224 Background: Plant-based diets are beneficial in several cancers such as colorectal and prostate. However, their adoption among oncology patients is not well studied. We report trends in plant-based diet selection among medical and surgical oncology patients at a comprehensive cancer center. Methods: An IRB-approved retrospective review of all patients admitted to the University of New Mexico Hospitals between October 2009 and October 2017 was conducted. Inclusion criteria included: 1) vegetarian Ovo-Lacto (dairy and eggs ok) or vegan (no animal-derived foods) inpatient diet request and 2) age >= 18 years. For each individual, the dietary orders and discharge summaries were reviewed. Patients with cancer diagnosis principally related to admission and/or admission to an oncology inpatient service were defined as oncology patients. Surgical oncology services included 8 different surgical branches. Results: A total of 181 oncology patients ordered plant-based diets. Median age was 62 years (range 18 to 90) and 69% were female. Vegetarian Ovo-Lacto (66%) was requested more than vegan diet (34%). The services on which the greatest number of these patients were treated were Medical Oncology (31%), General Surgical Oncology (23%), and Gynecology-Oncology (20%). Comparing medical and surgical oncology patients, there was no difference in terms of median age (63 vs. 62 years, p=0.62), nor in the % requesting vegan diet (30 vs. 35%, p=0.50), respectively. However, females comprised 95 of 124 (77%) surgical patients, but only 29 of 57 (51%) medical patients (p<0.001). The number of patients requesting a plant-based diet grew from 81 in the first half of the study period to 100 in the second half (a 23% increase). During this time period, vegetarian diet became more popular than vegan with an increase from 48 patients (59%) in the first half to 72 (72%) in the second half (p=0.05). Conclusions: Oncology patients are increasingly requesting plant-based diets. Most are female and prefer vegetarian over vegan meals. These findings can help cancer centers improve quality of care by tailoring nutritional offerings.