Study protocol
cancer
ACUTE DISEASE, CANCER
The details of the study were explained to every single patient and their companions. After obtaining informed consent from the patients, we filtered them based on our inclusion and exclusion criteria, and eligible participants were randomized to receive placebo or synbiotics supplements. During the first visit, the trained dietitian distributed a demographic questionnaire among the patients to collect basic information, such as age, marital status, smoking status, education, history of surgery, date of cancer diagnosis, the sessions of chemotherapy, medicine or supplement use, and chronic or acute disease history. Then, as the pre-test, seven validated questionnaires on experiences of chemotherapy-induced side effects were distributed among the patients by the same individual. The reliability and validity of the questionnaires were approved in previous study on cancer patients. Moreover, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was completed by the researchers to check the patients’ physical activity levels, based on metabolic equivalent-h/d (MET-h/d), and a 24-h dietary recall to assess dietary intakes. After the pre-test, each woman received 56 capsules of synbiotics or placebo. They were requested to take one capsule twice a day, after their main meals, and to store them in the refrigerator below 4 °C. Four weeks later, in the next chemotherapy session, the questionnaires on experiences of chemotherapy-induced side effects were given to the patients for the second time, and anthropometric measurement was repeated. Then, 56 more capsules were given to the patients to take for the next four weeks, until the last visit. In the third visit, all procedures in previous sessions were repeated.