ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2016
The assessment of anorexia in patients with cancer: cut-off values for the FAACT-A/CS and the VAS for appetite.
Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers.
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57 citing papers in PubMed, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
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- Nutrition rehabilitation programs and cachexia clinics for anorexia-cachexia syndrome in patients with cancer.The oncologist · 2026Review
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- Mechanisms of postoperative anorexia in surgical patients: a narrative review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- A patient-mediated implementation strategy to improve nutrition care delivery for esophageal and gastric cancer: a study protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- The impact of comprehensive pharmaceutical care on medication safety in gynecologic oncology chemotherapy patients.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
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- Nutraceutical Interception of Cachexia: Grape-Derived Compounds as Pathophysiological Network Modulators.Biology · 2025Review
- Cancer-Associated Cachexia: Bridging Clinical Findings with Mechanistic Insights in Human Studies.Cancer discovery · 2025Review
- Risk of poor nutritional status and nutrition-related complaints in individuals attending a primary care dietitian after a COVID-19 infection: A prospective cohort study.Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia · 2025Observational
- Survey on the knowledge and practices in anorexia of aging diagnosis and management in Japan.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2024Article
- Unveiling hidden outcomes in malignant gastric outlet obstruction research - insights from a "Pancreas 2000" review.World journal of gastrointestinal endoscopy · 2024Review
- Relationships of emerging biomarkers of cancer cachexia with quality of life, appetite, and cachexia.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Support Through Remote Observation and Nutrition Guidance (STRONG), a digital health intervention to reduce malnutrition among pancreatic cancer patients: A study protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2024Article
- Prevalence of Adrenal Insufficiency in Korean Patients undergoing Total Knee Arthroplasty.Annals of geriatric medicine and research · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeAnorexia is a frequently observed symptom in patients with cancer and is associated with limited food intake and decreased quality of life. Diagnostic instruments such as the Anorexia/Cachexia Subscale (A/CS) of the Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy (FAACT) questionnaire and the visual analog scale (VAS) for appetite have been recommended in the assessment of anorexia, but validated cut-off values are lacking. This study aimed to obtain cut-off values of these instruments for the assessment of anorexia in patients with cancer.
methodsThe FAACT-A/CS and the VAS for appetite were administered to patients with cancer before start of chemotherapy. As reference standard for anorexia, two external criteria were used: (1) a cut-off value of ≥2 on the anorexia symptom scale of the EORTC QLQ C-30 and (2) the question "Do you experience a decreased appetite?" (yes/no). ROC curves were used to examine the optimal cut-off values for the FAACT-A/CS and VAS.
resultsA total of 273 patients (58 % male; 64.0 ± 10.6 years) were included. The median score on the FAACT-A/CS was 38 (IQR 32-42) points and 77 (IQR 47-93) points on the VAS. Considering both external criteria, the optimal cut-off value for the FAACT-A/CS was ≤37 (sensitivity (se) 80 %, specificity (sp) 81 %, positive predictive value (PV(+)) 79 %, negative predictive value (PV(-)) 82 %) and for the VAS was ≤70 (se 76 %, sp 83 %, PV(+) 80 %, PV(-) 79 %).
conclusionsFor the assessment of anorexia in patients with cancer, our study suggests cut-off values of ≤37 for the FAACT-A/CS and ≤70 for the VAS. Future studies should confirm our findings in other patient samples.
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