Zhang XJ. Analysis of factors influencing nutritional risk in patients with acute leukemia and its correlation with psychological status. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(9): 118955 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.118955]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xiao-Juan Zhang, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Hemotology Medicine, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Henan University of Chinese Medicine (Zhengzhou People’s Hospital), No. 33 Huanghe Road, Jinshui District, Zhengzhou 450003, Henan Province, China. xiaojuandw@163.com
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Psychology
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research-article
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Zhang XJ. Analysis of factors influencing nutritional risk in patients with acute leukemia and its correlation with psychological status. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(9): 118955 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.118955]
World J Psychiatry. Sep 19, 2026; 16(9): 118955 Published online Sep 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.118955
Analysis of factors influencing nutritional risk in patients with acute leukemia and its correlation with psychological status
Xiao-Juan Zhang
Xiao-Juan Zhang, Department of Hemotology Medicine, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Henan University of Chinese Medicine (Zhengzhou People’s Hospital), Zhengzhou 450003, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang XJ designed the research and wrote the first manuscript; Zhang XJ contributed to conceiving the research and analyzing data; Zhang XJ conducted the analysis and provided guidance for the research; all authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: The authors declare that no AI tools were used in the development or writing of this manuscript and take full responsibility for its integrity, accuracy, and originality.
Supported by Henan Medical Science and Technology Research and Development Program Project, No. 2018020839.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethic Committee of Zhengzhou People’s Hospital.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous clinical data that were obtained after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Corresponding author: Xiao-Juan Zhang, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Hemotology Medicine, The Fifth Clinical Medical College of Henan University of Chinese Medicine (Zhengzhou People’s Hospital), No. 33 Huanghe Road, Jinshui District, Zhengzhou 450003, Henan Province, China. xiaojuandw@163.com
Received: March 25, 2026 Revised: May 8, 2026 Accepted: May 28, 2026 Published online: September 19, 2026 Processing time: 151 Days and 21.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Chemotherapy is a primary treatment for acute leukemia (AL). Favorable nutritional status enhances tolerance to chemotherapy, alleviates adverse reactions, and reduces the occurrence of adverse events.
AIM
To analyze the factors influencing nutritional risk in patients with AL and examine its correlation with psychological status.
METHODS
Using convenience sampling, patients with AL treated at the Zhengzhou People’s Hospital between January 2022 and January 2025 were enrolled as study participants. Nutritional status was assessed using the Nutrition Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002). Patients with scores ≥ 3 were classified as the nutritional risk group, and those with scores < 3 as the non-risk group. General and clinical data were collected from patients. Anxiety, depression, and psychological resilience were evaluated using the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis assessed the relationships between nutritional risk and psychological variables. Factors influencing nutritional risk in patients were identified using univariate and logistic regression analyses.
RESULTS
Among 174 patients, 81 had NRS2002 scores ≥ 3, resulting in a nutritional risk rate of 46.6%. Educational level, personal monthly income, disease perception, number of chemotherapy cycles, and lowest hemoglobin level were identified as influencing factors through univariate analysis. Except personal monthly income, all these factors were confirmed as independent factors by multivariate logistic regression. Compared with the non-risk group, patients at nutritional risk had notably higher SAS and SDS scores and lower scores across all dimensions of psychological resilience. Nutritional risk was positively associated with anxiety and depression and negatively associated with psychological resilience (self-reliance, optimism, and tenacity). Multivariate logistic regression further showed that SAS and SDS scores were risk factors for nutritional risk, whereas tenacity, self-reliance, and optimism were protective factors.
CONCLUSION
Educational level, personal monthly income, disease perception, number of chemotherapy cycles, and lowest hemoglobin level are key factors influencing nutritional risk in patients with AL. Nutritional risk is significantly correlated with psychological status, and poorer psychological status increases the risk of malnutrition.
Core Tip: Malnutrition is common in patients with acute leukemia (AL) due to the combined effects of the disease and anticancer therapy. AL, as a major stressor, increases patients’ physical and psychological burdens, which may impair treatment compliance and disease control. However, there is limited evidence on the relationship between psychological status, psychological resilience, and nutritional risk in patients with AL. Therefore, this study investigates the nutritional status of patients with AL, compares relevant data across nutritional groups, and examines psychological factors influencing nutritional risk in this population and its correlation with psychological status.
