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The Associations between Diet Quality, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Comorbidities among Older Female Cancer Survivors

Danko, Allison C
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu158738670038847

Abstract Details

2020, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.
Background: Diet quality can positively impact health-related quality of life (HRQoL) by assisting individuals in maintaining physical and mental health. Older female cancer survivors are at heightened risk for health deficits, comorbidities, and poor diet quality. Multiple chronic conditions can lead to a decline in mental and physical health impacting HRQoL. Objective: To investigate the associations between diet quality, general health, and comorbidities among older female cancer survivors. Methods: 168 female cancer survivors ≥65 years completed the RAND 36-Item Health Survey to measure HRQoL, and the Diet History Questionnaire to compute Healthy Eating Index 2015-2020 (HEI-2015) scores. Demographic characteristics were self-reported by the participants, and medical variables were collected from the electronic health record. The general health subscale of the RAND-36 was used as the main component of HRQoL in this study. Analyses included descriptive statistics, cross-tabs, correlations, and linear multiple regression. Results: The mean age of the participants was 74.7 years. The majority of participants were white (90%), married (54.4%), and breast cancer survivors (67.4%). Other cancers included hematologic (12.9%), gynecologic (12.1%), gastrointestinal (1.5%), and pancreas (1.5%). Mean HEI-2015 and general health subscale scores of participants were 66.4 and 59.5 respectively. Significant positive correlations were found between HEI-2015 and general health (p<0.01) and a significant negative correlation between number of comorbidities and general health (p<0.05). Multiple regression analysis revealed that being white (β=-0.23, p=0.020) and having fewer comorbidities (β=-0.26, p=0.017) wre significantly associated with higher general health. Being unmarried (β=0.22, p=0.039) and having a higher education (β=0.34, p=0.001) were significantly associated with higher HEI scores. Conclusions: Diet quality, general health, and comorbidities were associated among older female cancer survivors, an underserved and understudied population. Healthcare providers should seek help from registered dietitians for nutritional education to promote optimal physical and mental health of this growing population.
Jessica Krok-Schoen, PhD. MA (Advisor)
Michelle Naughton, PhD, MPH (Committee Member)
Colleen Spees, PhD, MEd, RDN, LD, FAND (Committee Member)
Anna Maria Bittoni, MS, RD, CSO (Committee Member)
77 p.
Nutrition
Diet quality, older cancer survivors, health-related quality of life, HRQoL, healthy eating index score, comorbidities

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Danko, A. C. (2020). The Associations between Diet Quality, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Comorbidities among Older Female Cancer Survivors [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu158738670038847

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Danko, Allison. The Associations between Diet Quality, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Comorbidities among Older Female Cancer Survivors. 2020. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu158738670038847.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Danko, Allison. "The Associations between Diet Quality, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Comorbidities among Older Female Cancer Survivors." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu158738670038847

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2020, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License The Associations between Diet Quality, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Comorbidities among Older Female Cancer Survivors by Allison C Danko is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.