Investigating Lifestyle and Dietary Style in Patients with Lymphoma of the Head and Neck Admitted to Razi Hospital in the City of Rasht

Background: In recent years, the incidence of various types of cancer including lymphoma has been on the rise. Although there have been developments in terms of knowledge of its biology and treatments, its etiology is still less known. In this respect, lifestyle and dietary factors can play important roles in the etiology of lymphoma. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the lifestyle and the dietary style in patients with lymphoma of the head and neck. Methods: This study was a retrospective case-control research. The patient group (57 people) was selected from the department of oncology at Razi hospital in the city of Rasht and the control group (57 individuals) was selected out of healthy individuals referred to Guilan school of dentistry. Then, both groups completed questionnaires concerning the research variables. After collecting the required information, the data were entered into the SPSS Software (version 21) to evaluate the dietary style and the lifestyle in the both groups. Results: Comparing the lifestyle in both study groups, the rate of smoking (P < 0.0001) as well as the Body Mass Index (BMI) (P = 0.0001) in the patient group was higher than those in the control group. Moreover, comparing the dietary style in both groups showed that the rates of red meat intake (P = 0.005) in the patient group, and the consumption of fresh herbs (P = 0.009) and fruits (P = 0.043) in the control group were high. These differences were also statistically significant. Conclusions: The consumption of red meat, herbs, and fruit, as well as the body mass index were considered as predictors of lymphoma. Furthermore, smoking was directly correlated with the incidence of lymphoma.