The Health‑Functional Food Intake Status and Relation with Fatigue for Women with Breast Cancer

Background: Fatigue is a common problem in breast cancer patients and the use of health-functional foods has been one of the popular choices for the management of fatigue and the recovery of health status. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of health-functional food consumption and its relationship with fatigue in breast cancer patients. Methods: In total, 270 women with breast cancer and without distant metastases (M=0 in tumor node metastasis staging) who underwent postoperative radiation therapy at a Kosin University Gospel Hospital in Busan between January and December 2011 were enrolled. The patients completed a questionnaire for the assessment of the social factors, lifestyle, health-functional food consumption status, and disease status. The subjects were stratified into groups according to the severity of their fatigue. Results: Among the 270 subjects, 218 (80.7%) consumed health-functional foods daily. Most of them used health-functional foods to recover from fatigue and improve health through recommendations from other individuals or following the mass media. There were significant differences between the fatigue and the non-fatigue group according to occupation, chronic illness status, quality of sleep, and activity level. The prevalence of fatigue was 58% among the study subjects. The health-functional food consumption significantly increased with increasing severity of fatigue (P=0.013). Conclusion: The consumption of health-functional food is high in breast cancer patients with fatigue compared to the general population. Therefore, we suggest that these patients should consult with their doctor concerning the consumption of health-functional food as a prescription.