The effect of demographic, clinical, and pathological data on quality of life in rectum cancer

The aims of the current study are to describe the quality of life among patients with rectal cancer and to determine the clinical and demographic correlation that influences the quality of life of rectal cancer patients.

In this study, 50 patients with rectal cancer treated in the Radiation Oncology Department of Kayseri City Education and Research Hospital were included. Ethics committee approval was received for the study. Data collection form was used to determine the demographic and clinicopathological characteristics of the patients. To assess the quality of life, the European Committee of Cancer Treatment and Organization Quality of Life Scale (EORTC QLQ-C30) question–answer scale was used. The data were collected by interviewing the patients face to face. Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to analyze the data. Spearman correlation analysis was performed to reveal the relationship between dependent variables.

As a result of this study, 52% of patients were 65 years and older and 54% were male patients. The most common surgery was low anterior resection and the most common type of pathology was adenocarcinoma. According to American Cancer Committee (AJCC) 7th edition 2009 staging, 80% stage 3 was the most common. In EORTC C30 Cancer Quality of Life Scale Functional Scale Subscale, the highest score is from the physical function and the lowest score is from the emotional function. In the symptom scale subscale, the most common symptom was nausea/vomiting. Performance status (ECOG) was found to be significantly associated with T stage, N stage, TNM stage, and symptom scores. There was a moderately significant positive correlation between symptom scales and global health status scales (ρ = 0.51; p < 0.001). There was a perfectly positive and significant relationship between symptom scales and functional scales (ρ = 0.83; p < 0.001).

As a result of this study we conducted, it was observed that rectal cancer patients decreased performance status and increased symptoms in the presence of advanced disease. Accordingly, it was found that the quality of life of the patient decreased.