The Effect of Venous Port Catheter Use on Quality of Life in Colorectal Cancer Patients: Descriptive Study

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the effect of venous port catheter use on quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer. Material and Methods: This descriptive and prospective study was conducted between April-July 2022 with a total of 169 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Patient Identification Form, Diagnostic Form for Venous Port Catheter Use in Daily Life in Patients with Cancer, Quality of Life Scale in Cancer Patients and Quality of Life Questionnaire in Colorectal Cancer Patients were utilized for data collection. Independent samples t-test; one-way analysis of variance test was used as statistical test methods. Results: The mean age was 55.51±9.9 years. The duration of venous port catheter use was between 0-6 months in 45.6% of the patients. Patients receiving FOLFIRI and FOLFOX treatment were the majority (94%). Almost all of the patients stated that the use of venous port catheter did not negatively affect their activities of daily living. It was found that the general quality of life scale scores of colorectal cancer patients were high, but the disease-specific quality of life scale scores were low due to the abundance of symptoms they experienced. Conclusion: It was observed that the use of venous port catheter did not negatively affect the daily living activities of the patients.