Quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer in Iran

Colorectal cancer is a major health problem primarily affecting the quality of life (QoL) of both patient and family. With the advances in surgery and novel chemotherapeutic drugs and modalities, survival has increased and the QoL has improved. The aim of this study was to assess QoL in patients with colorectal cancer taking the situation in the Iranian city Yazd from 2006 to 2011 as an example.

This study was conducted on 120 patients who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer within the 5-year period of the study. Different aspects of the patients' lives were assessed using the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ)-C30 questionnaire, and the results were reported in average aligned score compared with the maximum score of 100.

The mean age of the patients was 60.31±15.71years (range 14-88years). Sixty-three patients were male and 57 female. Further, 85 patients (70.8%) suffered from colon cancer and 34 (28.3%) had rectal cancer. All patients had undergone partial or total colectomies as treatment followed by chemotherapy. The average QoL score was 77.37±8.7 in women and 76.64±8.7 in men. No significant relationship was found between the average QoL score and gender. The average QoL score was 77.28±8.86 for colon cancer and 76.5±8.47 for rectal cancer, which was not statistically significant. The maximum average QoL score was 77.89±8.79 for stage 2 of the disease and the minimum score for stage 3 (75.81±7.66), indicating no significant relationship between the average QoL score and stage of cancer (p=0.89).

The results of the present study revealed that despite clinical efforts in the city of Yazd, the QoL of patients with colorectal cancer is still very poor in physical, social, clinical, and financial aspects.