Current status and influencing factors of nutrition management in patients with digestive tract cancer from the integrated perspective of medical care staff, patients, and family caregivers: a qualitative study

The research aimed to collect experience and viewpoints related to the nutrition management of patients with digestive tract cancers from medical care staff, patients, and family caregivers and provide reasonable and effective references for the mode of nutrition management of these patients.

Using a phenomenological qualitative research method, six physicians, six nurses, three nutritionists, six patients, and six family caregivers from a tertiary A cancer hospital in Jiangsu Province were chosen by purposive sampling methods from February to June 2023. Data was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and analyzed by the content analysis method.

Data analysis revealed two major themes, each with four subcategories: current status of clinical nutrition management tract cancers which consisted of “lack of whole-process nutrition management model,” “inadequate role of nutrition management professionals,” “lack of a mechanism for continuous improvement of nutrition management quality,” and “lack of nutrition science popularization and training system” and influencing factors of clinical nutrition management that contained “patient-related factors,” “family-related factors,” “medical staff–related factors,” and “hospital environment and policy-related factors.”

Nutritional management of digestive cancer patients is currently inadequate and should be viewed through an integrated perspective. Improvements should be made at four angles: patient, family, healthcare provider, and hospital environment by establishing a multidisciplinary nutritional management team.