Impact of modified short-term fasting and its combination with a fasting supportive diet during chemotherapy on the incidence and severity of chemotherapy-induced toxicities in cancer patients - a controlled cross-over pilot study

Table 3 Self-reported chemotherapy-induced toxicities 1 week after chemotherapy comparing cycles of mSTF (n = 56) with cycles of NC (n = 62)

	NC	mSTF	PE ± SD*	95% CI	P-Value
Reduced Appetite	4.51 ± 5.01	2.75 ± 4.75	− 1.01 ± 0.71	−2.43 – 0.42	0.164
Hunger	5.36 ± 5.48	4.98 ± 5.23	− 0.14 ± 0.60	−1.35 – 1.06	0.813
Nausea	3.72 ± 4.34	4.24 ± 4.91	− 0.13 ± 0.57	−1.26 – 0.99	0.814
Vomiting	0.21 ± 0.84	0.45 ± 1.14	0.32 ± 0.19	− 0.07 – 0.70	0.106
Stomach pains	1.66 ± 3.25	2.25 ± 3.69	0.79 ± 0.63	− 0.47 – 2.04	0.215
Diarrhea	1.00 ± 2.88	0.78 ± 2.34	− 0.41 ± 0.58	−1.57 – 0.76	0.489
Obstipation	3.17 ± 4.42	3.06 ± 3.83	− 0.73 ± 0.84	− 2.41 – 0.94	0.385
Fever	0.11 ± 0.51	0.14 ± 0.98	0.13 ± 0.18	− 0.23 – 0.48	0.480
Headaches	2.74 ± 4.30	1.18 ± 2.06	− 1.80 ± 0.55	−2.89 – (− 0.71)	0.002
Insomnia	5.21 ± 5.35	4.18 ± 4.97	− 1.18 ± 0.77	−2.73 – 0.36	0.130
Fatigue	7.96 ± 5.52	6.63 ± 5.66	− 1.45 ± 0.85	−3.15 – 0.26	0.094
Dizziness	2.23 ± 9.19	2.84 ± 4.15	− 0.13 ± 0.59	−1.31 – 1.05	0.832
Weakness	7.11 ± 5.40	5.78 ± 5.26	−1.99 ± 0.87	−3.72 – (− 0.26)	0.024
Exhaustion	6.74 ± 5.46	6.20 ± 5.67	−1.23 ± 0.85	− 2.92 – 0.46	0.152
Total toxicities	56.36 ± 32,14	47.52 ± 33.21	−10.36 ± 4.44	−19.22 – (− 1.50)	0.023

Values are shown as mean ± SD. Due to missing data, we included data of 53 cycles of NC and 51 cycles of mSTF in this analysis. * PE ± SD represents the difference for each toxicity score points between cycles of NC and those of mSTF. Per day, patients awarded each toxicity with 0 (none) to 3 (severe) points. Consequently, each toxicity received 0–21 points. The scores of all toxicities in the following 7 days after chemotherapy are summarised in total toxicities (0–294 points)

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