Factors Associated with Early Nutritional Status after Radical Gastrectomy in Patients with Gastric Cancer

Purpose: The aims of this study was to identify factors associated with nutritional status after radical gastrectomy in patients with gastric cancer at the post 1 month and the post 3-6 months independently. Methods: Participants consisted of 107 patients at the post 1 month and 131 patients at the post 3-6 months after radical gastrectomy. Data were collected from October 1, 2013 to May 14, 2014 using a Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Results: Stepwise multiple regression showed that factors associated with nutritional status at 1 month after radical gastrectomy were age (β=.55, p<.001), anxiety (β=.25, p=.007), and depression (β=.23, p=.017), which explained the 42.6% of total variance of nutritional status. However, factors associated with nutritional status at 3-6 months after radical gastrectomy were depression (β=.41, p=.017), return to work (β=.20, p<.001), and age (β=.29, p=.024), which explained 27.1% of the total variance of nutritional status. Conclusion: In conclusion, oncology nurses should be sensitive to the risk group of aged, depressed, anxious and delayed return to work patients for nutritional status during the early recovery period after radical gastrectomy.