The Influence of Symptoms, Anxiety, and Family Support on Unmet Needs in Colorectal Cancer Patients

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the influence of symptoms, anxiety, and family support on unmet needs in patients with colorectal cancer.Methods: This study included 122 colorectal cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy at H Medical Center in South Korea. Data were collected from May to September 2023. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression.Results: The average age of the participants was 62.00±10.56 years, and 70 (57.4%) were men. The three most common symptoms were loss of appetite, numbness or tingling, and tiredness. Significant differences in unmet needs were observed according to age, religion, education level, and cancer stage. Unmet needs were positively correlated with symptoms (r=.45) and anxiety (r=.45), but not with family support. The influential factors included symptoms, anxiety, religion, age, and education, which explained 41.3% of variance.Conclusion: Higher symptom levels, higher anxiety, being a college graduate, being under 50 years of age, and being non-religious were associated with higher levels of unmet needs. Symptoms and anxiety were the most influential factors in this study. It is important to provide appropriate nursing for symptom management and emotional problems of cancer patients and to identify individual problems to meet unmet needs.