The Influence of Sociodemographic Factors and Clinical Aspects on the Quality of Life of Surgically Treated Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Filip Świątkowski,1,2 Jakub Lambrinow,3 Tomasz Górnicki,4 Marta Jurga,5 Mariusz Chabowski1,6 1Department of Surgery, 4th Military Clinical Hospital, Wroclaw, 50-981, Poland; 2Division of Anaesthesiologic and Surgical Nursing, Department of Nursing and Obstetrics, Faculty of Health Science, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, 51-618, Poland; 3Department of Angiology and Internal Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, 50-556, Poland; 4Division of Histology and Embryology, Department of Human Morphology and Embryology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, 50-368, Poland; 5Student Research Club No 180, Faculty of Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, 50-367, Poland; 6Department of Clinical Surgical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, 50-556, PolandCorrespondence: Mariusz Chabowski, Email [email protected]: Due to the increasing number of cases and the levels of mortality, colorectal cancer is still a major health problem. Therefore, the growing interest in the quality of life of patients and the assessment of the quality of life of patients with colorectal cancer seems to be particularly important. The aim of the study was to investigate and determine factors that have a significant impact on the QoL of patients who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer that was surgically treated in the Surgical Department of the 4th Military Clinical Hospital in Wroclaw.Methods: 102 respondents were enrolled into the study. The QLQ-C30, QLQ-CR29 as well as an original questionnaire regarding the socioeconomic factors were used for the assessment. The information was supplemented with patients’ clinical data.Results: According to the QLQ-C30 questionnaire the average QoL of the respondents was 55%. Factors such as male gender, younger age, higher BMI, no significant weight loss, living with family, lower level of education and being professionally active have significant positive impact on QoL. In contrary, patients with more advanced and malignant cancer with tumor located in the right half of the colon had worse QoL. The particular domains of QoL influenced by these factors were also identified. Determining these factors will allow for more effective treatment, for the shortening of the hospitalization and finally for the reduction of the costs.Conclusion: The better QoL of the patients with colorectal cancer treated surgically showed younger men, living with family and with the support from close people, professionally active, with primary level of education, and without significant weight loss, ie less than 5% of body weight in the last 6 months. Moreover, patients with cancer located in the left colon, at a lower stage, with a lower grading demonstrated a better QoL.Keywords: colorectal cancer, quality of life, clinico-pathological factors, QLQ-C30 questionnaire, QLQ-CR29 questionnaire