{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,10]],"date-time":"2026-07-10T03:56:23Z","timestamp":1783655783135,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,26]],"date-time":"2025-09-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758844800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Wasting is a major concern among pediatric cancer patients and significantly affects treatment outcomes and quality of life. However, limited data exist on the prevalence of wasting and its associated factors in low-income contexts. This study determined the prevalence of wasting and its associated factors among pediatric cancer patients aged 2--17 years at the Uganda Cancer Institute.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>An institutionally based, cross-sectional study was conducted among 270 systematically randomly selected caregiver\u2012child pairs. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariable analyses were conducted using STATA version 14. Variables with p-value\u2009&lt;\u20090.05 were considered statistically significant.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Among 270 pediatric cancer patients aged 2\u201317 years, 27.4% (n\u2009=\u200974) were wasted. Children aged 5 years and older had a 20% higher prevalence of wasting (aPR\u2009=\u20091.2; p\u2009=\u20090.002). Cancers near the gastrointestinal tract were associated with a 10% greater prevalence of wasting (aPR\u2009=\u20091.1; p\u2009=\u20090.028). Wasting was lower by 20% among children whose caregivers had tertiary education (aPR\u2009=\u20090.8; p\u2009=\u20090.002), whereas treatment effects increased wasting prevalence by 10% (aPR\u2009=\u20091.1; p\u2009=\u20090.013).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Wasting is a prevalent form of malnutrition among pediatric cancer patients requiring the integration of nutritional services to address the nutritional needs of children, especially those aged greater than 5 years, those with cancers along the gastro-intestinal tract and those experiencing treatment effects. Additionally, health and nutrition education programs tailored to the caregiver\u2019s level of education are needed.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0333076","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,26]],"date-time":"2025-09-26T17:37:57Z","timestamp":1758908277000},"page":"e0333076","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Factors associated with wasting among pediatric cancer patients aged 2\u201317 years at Uganda cancer institute: A cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-4401-5225","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Daisy","family":"Wannyana","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arthur","family":"Bagonza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sandrah Joyce","family":"Mwima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christine","family":"Nalwadda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rawlance","family":"Ndejjo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0333076.ref001","volume-title":"Development of a nutritional screening tool for pediatric cancer patients in Uganda and Tanzania: an exploratory analysis","author":"C Abdoulie","year":"2020"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0333076.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"168","DOI":"10.1007\/s12254-020-00672-3","article-title":"Malnutrition and cancer, diagnosis and treatment","volume":"14","author":"A 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