The Use of Natural Language Processing Elements for Computer-Aided Diagnostics and Monitoring of Body Image Perception in Enterally Fed Patients with Head and Neck or Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancers.

BACKGROUND: Psycho-oncology care has emerged as a significant concern in contemporary oncology practice, given its profound impact on patient psychological well-being. Patients undergoing treatment for head-neck or upper gastrointestinal tract cancers often experience complex emotional and psychological challenges, necessitating specialized support and intervention. Traditional approaches to psycho-oncological care may be limited in their ability to comprehensively assess and address patients' needs. Therefore, exploring innovative methodologies, such as leveraging natural language processing (NLP) elements, is crucial to enhancing the effectiveness of psycho-oncological interventions. METHODS: In this study, we developed a method utilizing natural language processing (NLP) elements to augment psycho-oncological care for patients with head-neck or upper gastrointestinal tract cancers. The method aimed to facilitate vocabulary, sentiment, and intensity analysis of five basic emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, and fear), as well as to explore potential areas of difficulty such as body image, pain, and self-esteem. We conducted research involving 50 patients across three treatment stages. RESULTS: Our method facilitated the identification of characteristic features at each treatment stage, aiding in the tailoring of appropriate therapies to individual patient needs. The results offer insights valuable to psychologists and psychiatrists for expedited diagnosis and intervention, potentially influencing therapy outcomes. Additionally, the data may inform treatment decisions by addressing patient-specific concerns. Furthermore, our method holds promise for optimizing the allocation of psychological care resources, particularly at the initial stages of patient contact. LIMITATIONS: The main problem in the research was the fairly wide age range of participants, which explains the potential diversity of vocabulary. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study demonstrates the potential utility of integrating natural language processing (NLP) elements into psycho-oncological care for patients with head-neck or upper gastrointestinal tract cancers. The developed method offers a novel approach to comprehensively assessing patients' emotional states and areas of difficulty, thereby facilitating tailored interventions and treatment planning. These findings underscore the importance of continued research and innovation in psycho-oncology to enhance patient care and outcomes.

The Use of Natural Language Processing for Computer-Aided Diagnostics and Monitoring of Body Image Perception in Patients with Cancers.

BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancers (H&NCs) constitute a significant part of all cancer cases. H&NC patients experience unintentional weight loss, poor nutritional status, or speech disorders. Medical interventions affect appearance and interfere with patients' self-perception of their bodies. Psychological consultations are not affordable due to limited time. METHODS: We used NLP to analyze the basic emotion intensity, sentiment about one's body, characteristic vocabulary, and potential areas of difficulty in free notes. The emotion intensity research uses the extended NAWL dictionary developed using word embedding. The sentiment analysis used a hybrid approach: a sentiment dictionary and a deep recursive network. The part-of-speech tagging and domain rules defined by a psycho-oncologist determine the distinct language traits. Potential areas of difficulty were analyzed using the dictionaries method with word polarity to define a given area and the presentation of a note using bag-of-words. Here, we applied the LSA method using SVD to reduce dimensionality. A total of 50 cancer patients requiring enteral nutrition participated in the study. RESULTS: The results confirmed the complexity of emotions in patients with H&NC in relation to their body image. A negative attitude towards body image was detected in most of the patients. The method presented in the study appeared to be effective in assessing body image perception disturbances, but it cannot be used as the sole indicator of body image perception issues. LIMITATIONS: The main problem in the research was the fairly wide age range of participants, which explains the potential diversity of vocabulary. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of the attributes of a patient's condition, possible to determine using the method for a specific patient, can indicate the direction of support for the patient, relatives, direct medical personnel, and psycho-oncologists.

Influence of Enteral Nutrition on Quality of Life in Head and Neck Cancer and Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer Patients within a Pair-Matched Sample.

Patients with cancers of the head and neck and upper gastrointestinal tract are particularly susceptible to malnutrition, which worsens both their prognosis and quality of life and may result in the need for enteral or parenteral nutrition. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of enteral nutrition on the quality of life in a paired sample. This study included 50 patients with cancer in two paired subgroups: with enteral nutrition (studied group) and without enteral nutrition (matched group). This study was based on self-reports collected with the EORTC QLQ C30 questionnaire and retrospective analysis of medical records. The analysis revealed that weight loss, group type, and age were the primary factors influencing patients' quality of life. Compared with all cancer patients and the general Polish population, the scores of patients in both groups were below reference values for functional scales and exceeded reference values or were similar for fatigue and vomiting/nausea. Patients who received enteral nutrition more frequently scored lower on the functional scales and higher on the symptomatic scales than the control group. These findings emphasize the complex relationship between cancer, nutritional status, and quality of life.

Actual and Potential Role of Primary Care Physicians in Cancer Prevention.

Although the role of primary care in cancer prevention has been proven, its assumptions are still insufficiently implemented and the actual rates of cancer prevention advice delivery remain low. Our study aimed to identify the actual and potential role of primary care physicians (PCPs) in the cancer prevention area. Design of the study is a cross-sectional one, based on a survey of 450 PCPs who took part in a nationwide educational project in Poland. Only 30% of PCPs provide cancer prevention advice routinely in their practice, whereas 70% do that only sometimes. PCPs' actual role in cancer prevention is highly unexploited. They inquire routinely about the patient's smoking history (71.1%), breast cancer screening program (43.7%), cervical cancer screening (41.1%), patient's alcohol consumption (34%), patient's physical activity levels (32.3%), body mass index (29.6%), the patient's eating habits (28%) and patient's potential for sun/UV-Ray exposure (5.7%). The potential role of PCPs in cancer prevention is still underestimated and underutilized. Action should be taken to raise awareness and understanding that PCPs can provide cancer prevention advice. Since lack of time is the main obstacle to providing cancer prevention advice routinely, systemic means must be undertaken to enable PCPs to utilize their unquestionable role in cancer prevention.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Smoking Cessation-A Real-Time Data Analysis from the Polish National Quitline.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, tobacco research has delivered new evidence on the harmfulness of smoking in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the course of the COVID-19 disease. More and more research proves that smoking is an important risk factor contributing to increased risk of mortality among COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study was to assess whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted decisions about quitting smoking. A total of 4072 records of anonymized data were obtained from the Polish National Quitline. Between 15 April 2020 and 31 May 2021, the callers were asked about the COVID-19 pandemic and its influence on their decisions on smoking continuation or cessation. Our results indicate that smokers are very receptive to communication concerning COVID-19 and smoking risk. This phenomenon can possibly be connected to the immediate potential health consequences of smoking and COVID-19 virus infection. Results may indicate that putting emphasis on arguments combined with short-term health consequences of smoking may result in better outcomes in smoking cessation. There is a need for further and constant education on tobacco-related health harm. Our results showed that an irregular and mass communication on health consequences may result in high effectiveness in smoking cessation.

Quality of Life of Cancer Patients Receiving Enteral Nutrition: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Most studies confirm the beneficial effects of enteral nutrition on the quality of life, but some studies indicate an inverse association and its detrimental impacts. However, there are insufficient data on the effects of enteral nutrition on the quality of life of cancer patients. This systematic review aimed to describe the influence of applied enteral nutrition on the quality of life of cancer patients, based on the results of randomized controlled trials. It was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42021261226) and conducted based on the PRISMA guidelines. The searching procedure was conducted using the PubMed and Web of Science databases, as well as Cochrane Library, and it included studies published until June 2021. It was conducted to select randomized controlled trials assessing the influence of enteral nutrition (compared with the other model of nutrition) on the quality of life of cancer patients. A general number of 761 records were screened and a final number of 16 studies were included in the systematic review. The studies were included and assessed by two independent researchers, while the risk of bias was analyzed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Studies compared patients treated with and without enteral nutrition, patients treated with various methods of enteral nutrition or with enteral diets of various content, as well as patients treated with enteral and parenteral nutrition. Within the included studies, the majority were conducted in patients with cancers located in various parts of the body, or diverse areas within the gastrointestinal system, while some studies were conducted in specific populations of patients with a defined cancer location-esophagus, stomach, or ovary. The duration of applied enteral nutrition within the included studies was diversified-from two weeks or less to half a year or even more. The vast majority of studies used well-known and validated tools to assess the quality of life, either developed for a specific group of head/neck, esophagus/stomach, and ovary cancer patients or developed for more general patient populations. Most studies concerning patients treated with and without enteral nutrition supported applying enteral nutrition, which was concluded in seven studies out of ten (including four studies with a low risk of bias). The other important observations to be emphasized-formulated based on the studies with a low risk of bias-presented the role of oral supportive nutrition guided by a dietitian, as well as the beneficial role of enteral and parenteral nutrition, combined. In spite of a relatively low number of randomized controlled trials assessing the influence of enteral nutrition on the quality of life of cancer patients, which should be considered as a limitation, the results were promising. Most studies supported the positive influence of enteral nutrition on the quality of life, either assessed based on the psychological measures of the quality of life or by considering the other potential determinants (e.g., malnutrition, complications, etc.). Taking this into account, enteral nutrition should be applied whenever possible, both to prevent and treat malnutrition in cancer patients. However, considering the limited number of studies conducted so far, further research conducted in homogenic populations of patients is necessary.

Point of Sale Advertising and Promotion of Cigarettes, Electronic Cigarettes, and Heated Tobacco Products in Warsaw, Poland-A Pilot Study.

Prevalence of smoking and e-cigarette use among teenagers in Poland is high. Polish law bans most advertising and promotion for cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and heated tobacco products (HTPs). This study investigates marketing for these products at points of sale (POS) near secondary schools in Warsaw, Poland, noting if the advertising and promotion were allowed under current Polish laws. All POS within 250 m radii of five selected secondary schools in each of three Warsaw districts were assessed for tobacco and e-cigarette direct advertising, inside and outside; offers of gifts or promotional discounts; tobacco merchandising, and tobacco displays. Of the 112 POS surveyed, 83% exposed customers to some form of advertising or promotion of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or HTPs; in 76%, advertising or promotion that violated Polish law was present. More than 80% of POS surveyed displayed tobacco products; in 19%, these products were displayed near products of interest to minors. POS density observed here was 30.3 per km2, higher than in other European cities. In Poland, a high proportion of POS near schools violates the law banning the advertisement and promotion of tobacco and nicotine consumer products through a dense tobacco retailer network.