In Part 2 of my interview with Dr. Bonnie Chin, assistant professor at Rutgers Cancer Institute, she expands on her findings by identifying factors that can influence adherence to dietary guidelines .
Looking ahead, Qin discusses how healthcare providers can use insights from her research to address racial disparities in ovarian cancer survival. She also highlights the need for further research to improve our understanding of modifiable lifestyle factors that may improve ovarian cancer survival.
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What factors can influence adherence to dietary guidelines?
Although our study found that participants with higher education levels were more likely to strictly adhere to dietary guidelines, our study specifically examined social factors that influence dietary guideline adherence. I didn't evaluate it.
We know that maintaining a high-quality diet is often a privilege. Many other existing studies have found that improved diet quality is associated with improved individual socio-economic status and access to healthy food, which is also associated at the community level. Masu.
In our study, we carefully adjusted for potential confounders in the model, so the observed association between diet and ovarian cancer survival was independent of individual-level socioeconomic status. However, strategies to improve diet quality may need to target social barriers such as affordability and access to healthy foods.
How can health care providers use your findings to address racial disparities in ovarian cancer survival?
Our study results suggest that future dietary interventions should target women with the lowest dietary quality and that even moderate adherence to dietary guidelines is associated with poorer outcomes after diagnosis of high-grade serous ovarian cancer in black women. This suggests that it may be associated with improved survival rates. What are the components of the dietary guidelines? I think it should be mentioned.
The dietary guidelines evaluated in this study include the current dietary guidelines for Americans. Therefore, foods recommended to consume more of for health benefits include fruits, vegetables, grains and beans, whole grains, dairy products, total protein foods, seafood, plant proteins, and unsaturated fats. and those with a high proportion of saturated fat. Foods and dietary elements to limit for better health include refined grains, sodium, added sugars, and saturated fats.
What further research is needed to expand our understanding of modifiable lifestyle factors that may improve ovarian cancer survival?
First, further research on this topic is needed to validate our findings. Second, we are also interested in postdiagnosis dietary quality, potential dietary quality changes postdiagnosis, and how they impact ovarian cancer survival in Black women. However, the current study design does not allow us to answer these questions. We encourage you to investigate these questions further.
Additionally, more research is needed to identify multilevel factors that improve survival outcomes for understudied and underserved Black women.
