The role of the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and biochemical markers in predicting anemia patients with cancer

Purpose The causes of anemia and the common side effects of cancer are multifactorial. Malnutrition is one of the alleged components of the aforementioned complications. This study planned to investigate the relationship among biochemical markers, Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), and anemia in cancer patients. Methods This analysis consisted of 234 patients who were enlisted in the Department of Oncology of the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University between December 2016 and October 2017. The groups were divided into anemic and non-anemic patients. The gathered data primarily discussed the patients’ basic information, specifically the age, gender, smoking, alcohol consumption, and nutritional status based on levels of serum biochemical markers and PG-SGA scores. Results Among the participants, 31.2% of the cancer patients were diagnosed with anemia whereas, according to the scores of PG.SGA, 65.0% of patients experienced malnourishment. The anemia was significantly associated with biochemical markers, expecting a transferrin in univariable analyses. Binary logistic regression analysis between anemic cancer patients and non-anemic cancer patients suggested that high PG-SGA score (odds ratio 1.082; 95% CI 1.027–1.141) implied the risk factor for anemia, and high PG-SGA scores could potentially increase the risk of anemia. The multiple regression analysis showed that hemoglobin concentration (OR 0.575; 95% CI 0.450–0.736) and PG-SGA score (OR 1.231; 95% CI 1.013–1.496) were linked to anemia. However, total protein, albumin, prealbumin, serum iron, transferrin, and transferrin saturation lacked a strong relationship with anemia. Conclusion Anemia prevailed in cancer patients, as nutritionally assessed by PG-SGA, while hemoglobin established a linkage with anemia as they could provide extra predictive information about anemia in patients diagnosed with cancer.