Evaluation Of Life Quality In Colorectal Cancer Patients

Abstract

Introduction. The diagnostic period of cancer, the treatment process and the complications caused by the treatments negatively affect the quality of life of the patients and his relatives who support his care. The concept of quality of life has gained more importance in recent years due to reasons such as prolonged life expectancy and increased public awareness.
 Aim. Colorectal cancer affects the life quality of individuals negatively. In this study, life quality of colorectal cancer patients and the factors affecting their quality of life were examined.
 Materials and method. The sample of the study consisted of 110 patients who applied to the General Surgery Clinic/Service and Chemotherapy Unit in State Hospital and Training and Research Hospital between 01.05.2014 and 01.11.2015. Survey data were collected using the socio-demographic questionnaire, EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-CR38 (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Questionnaire) and Beck Depression Scale. Number, percentage, mean distribution, variance analysis, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used with SPSS v.20.0 software in evaluating the data.
 Results. The mean age of the patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer was obtained 61.9 ± 10.92 years. It was determined that 61.8% of the patients were male, 87.3% were married, and 20.9% had cancer history in their family. It has been determined that, women suffered more from stoma-related problems than men and the perception of the body image of female patients were worser than men. Patients were found to have a high emotional function and high pain level; and have low constipation scores in the symptom subscale. Patients' scores related to stoma problems were high and sexual enjoyment scores were low. The age, number of children, marital status and educational status of the patients were found to have an influence on the quality of life.
 Conclusion.As a result, as the age of colorectal cancer patients progressed and as the number of children increased, the functional status was worse and the incidence of symptoms was higher. It was determined that gender did not affect the quality of life or depression.