OYANA, N.E

This study examined the perceived influence of chemotherapy on nutritional symptomatology among patients with cancer attending the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo State. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design,and data were collected from 154 adult patients undergoing chemotherapy using a structured questionnaire.Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequencies, means, and standard deviations. Findings revealed that 82.5% of respondents reported experiencing loss of appetite, 76.0% nausea, 68.2% vomiting, and 71.4% taste alteration during chemotherapy. About 64.9% of the patients also reported early satiety and difficulty maintaining regular meals, while 58.4% experienced significant weight loss. The mean scores further indicated that loss of appetite (Mean = 4.12), nausea (Mean = 4.06), and taste alteration (Mean = 3.95) were the most common nutritional symptoms. In coping with these effects, the majority of respondents adopted strategies such as eating small frequent meals (Mean = 4.28), increasing fluid intake (Mean = 4.10),and avoiding spicy foods (Mean = 3.85). Most participants (73.4%) perceived that proper nutritional management improved their tolerance to chemotherapy and overall well-being. The study concluded that chemotherapy has a significant negative effect on nutritional health among cancer patients. It recommends that oncology nurses and dietitians strengthen nutritional counseling and integrate individualized dietary plans into chemotherapy care.