The Nutritional Assessment of Gastric Cancer Outpatients and its Relation with Sarcopenia

objectives The nutritional problems and low quality of life in patients with gastric cancer have become important goals of current cancer treatment. The purpose of this study was to assess the nutritional status of outpatient gastric cancer patients. Methods We recruited outpatient gastric cancer patients referred for chemotherapy to a tertiary hospital in Tehran and Mashhad, Iran between February and July 2023. Demographic information, malignancy and treatments characteristics were collected. We used the Patient-generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), anthropometric parameters, clinical symptoms, hand-grip strength (HGS), and dietary intakes. For sarcopenia, we used The Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis (EWGSOP2). Results One hundred and sixteen patients were assessed. The mean age was 60.77 ± 11.95, and 70% were male. The mean PG-SGA was 14.98 ± 7.78. We found that 94% of the patients were malnourished (PG-SGA score ≥ 4), and 72.4% of the patients required urgent nutritional support (PG-SGA score ≥ 9). 73.2% were underweight. Significant weight loss was seen in 73.2%. Also, 85.3% of the patients had sarcopenia, with 16.4% having severe sarcopenia. Older age (> 65 years, p = 0.006), tumor site (p = 0.02), cancer duration (p < 0.001), weight loss in the last one month (p < 0.001), and 6 months (p < 0.001), walking velocity (p < 0.001), and sarcopenia (p < 0.001) were associated with PG-SGA score. There was a negative correlation between PG-SGA score and global quality of life (p < 0.05). There was no correlation between previous surgery and PG-SGA score (p > 0.05). Conclusion Malnutrition and sarcopenia are prevalent in patients with gastric cancer during chemotherapy. Therefore, nutritional assessment and interventions should be promptly evaluated and provided as soon as possible to improve the nutritional status of outpatients with gastric cancer in Iran.