{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T05:02:49Z","timestamp":1789448569077,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789430400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Oncol."],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n Patients with gastric cancer often have reduced quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to examine whether nutritional behaviors and nutritional status serially mediate the association between health beliefs and QoL among patients with gastric cancer.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n This cross-sectional study included 274 patients with gastric cancer. Health beliefs, QoL, nutritional behaviors, and nutritional status were measured using validated instruments. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to examine bivariate relationships. Serial mediation analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling with bootstrap resampling (5,000 samples).<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n Health beliefs were positively correlated with QoL (\n r<\/jats:italic>\n \u00a0=\u00a00.323,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n \u00a0&lt;\u00a00.01). The total effect of health beliefs on QoL was significant (effect = 0.595,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n \u00a0&lt;\u00a00.05). After including mediators, the direct effect remained significant (effect = 0.284,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n \u00a0&lt;\u00a00.05), accounting for 47.7% of the total effect. The indirect effect via nutritional behaviors alone was significant (effect = 0.150,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n \u00a0&lt;\u00a00.05), explaining 25.2% of the total effect. The indirect effect via nutritional status alone was also significant (effect = 0.103,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n \u00a0&lt;\u00a00.05), explaining 17.3% of the total effect. The serial indirect effect (health beliefs \u2192 nutritional behaviors \u2192 nutritional status \u2192 QoL) was significant (effect = 0.058,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n \u00a0&lt;\u00a00.05), accounting for 9.7% of the total effect. The model demonstrated excellent fit (\n \u03c7<\/jats:italic>\n \u00b2\/\n df<\/jats:italic>\n \u00a0=\u00a01.260, CFI\u00a0=\u00a00.992, RMSEA\u00a0=\u00a00.031, TLI\u00a0=\u00a00.989, GFI\u00a0=\u00a00.965, AGFI\u00a0=\u00a00.947).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n Health beliefs are positively associated with QoL in patients with gastric cancer, with evidence of independent and serial mediation by nutritional behaviors and nutritional status. These findings are compatible with the hypothesized theoretical model and support the development of theory-driven interventions for future testing in prospective studies.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fonc.2026.1862498","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T04:26:19Z","timestamp":1789446379000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Health beliefs and quality of life in patients with gastric cancer: the chain mediating role of nutritional behaviors and nutritional status"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Guiju","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Henan Provincial People\u2019s Hospital","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cancan","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Henan Provincial People\u2019s Hospital","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junwei","family":"Bai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Henan Provincial People\u2019s Hospital","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junmeng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Henan Provincial People\u2019s Hospital","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mengxiao","family":"Hou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Henan Provincial People\u2019s Hospital","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pengfei","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastrointestinal 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