The goal of this observational (cross-sectional) study is to better understand nutrition literacy in survivor-caregiver dyads and its impact on nutrition related outcomes and quality of life. We're interested in finding out how much they know about nutrition and how this might relate to their overall health, body composition, functional status, and overall well-being. We will target post-treatment head and neck cancer survivors and a paired informal caregiver. The main questions we aim to answer are: * How does the nutrition literacy of both the survivor and caregiver relate to their sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical characteristics? * How dyadic nutrition literacy influence individual nutrition outcomes like skin carotenoid levels, body composition, and functional status? * Does the shared nutrition knowledge (nutrition literacy) of both the survivor and caregiver impact their quality of life together? Participants will: Answer questions about their knowledge of nutrition. Have their nutritional health status checked. Use a non-invasive device to measure skin carotenoid content to validate self-reports of fruit and vegetable intake. Have a simple and painless test to measure their body composition - like how much muscle and fat they have. Do some physical tests like grip strength and walking to measure their physical ability. Answer questions about their general well-being and lifestyle, like exercise and diet. (For the survivor) Share details about their cancer, its treatment, and their overall well-being. (For the caregiver) Answer questions about their role in taking care of the survivor, and their involvement in care routine such as food shopping and cooking.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
150
University of Kansas Medical Center
Kansas City, Kansas, United States
RECRUITINGNutrition Literacy
Measured by the self-administered Nutrition Literacy Assessment Instrument (NLit).
Time frame: at a single time point between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Nutrition Status
Measured by the Mini Nutrition Assessment (MNA)
Time frame: at a single time point between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Skin Carotenoid
Using the Veggie Meter®
Time frame: at a single time point between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Body composition
Measured by BIA - InBody© 270, USA
Time frame: at a single time point between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Functional status
Handgrip strength will be measured and recorded 3 times using the Jamar hand dynamometer on the dominant hand; Functional performance status will also be assessed using a short physical performance battery consisting of three functional tests assessing performance.
Time frame: at a single time point between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Sociodemographics.
Age, biological sex, race, ethnicity, years of education, annual household income, employment status, pack-years smoking, alcohol consumption (current, former, never) will be self-reported.
Time frame: at a single time point between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Fruit & Vegetable Intake
Using the Eating at America's Table Study's (EATS) All-Day screener designed, and validated by the National Cancer Institute
Time frame: at a single time point between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Exercise
Assessed using a modified Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire
Time frame: at a single time point between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Food Security
Self-reported food security will be assessed using the USDA's U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module: Six-Item Short Form
Time frame: At a single time point between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Caregiving characteristics
Caregiver only: Caregivers will be asked to self-report their residence (in or out of survivor's home), years spent caregiving, hours per week spent caregiving, relationship to survivor, and role in food procurement and preparation
Time frame: between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Quality of life
Caregiver: Overall quality of life will be assessed using the Caregiver FACT-General, which is structured and scored similarly to the FACT-HN but adapted for use in cancer caregivers. Cancer survivor: Overall quality of life will be assess using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Head and Neck (FACT-HN) quality of life questionnaire.
Time frame: between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
Clinical characteristics
Tumor site, cancer stage, treatment modality, and HPV-status of the tumor will be collected through EMR review
Time frame: between 6 months and 5 years post-treatment
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