Need differences by treatment phases between patients with colorectal cancer and their caregivers: A text mining...

To improve the quality of life and health outcomes of an increasing number of colorectal cancer patients and their caregivers, the specific needs of both should be understood across the cancer treatment trajectory. This study attempted to identify the supportive needs of patients and caregivers during each treatment phase.

Using text mining, posts from a South Korean internet self-help support group for colorectal cancer were classified by assigning labels to the terms extracted according to the poster, treatment phase, and support type. The extracted terms were then classified based on term frequency, with higher term frequency indicating higher need.

Both caregivers and patients showed the highest term frequencies during the treatment phase. Caregivers had more high-ranking terms that were ranked higher than patients, indicating high support needs. In addition, the terms regarding treatments and diseases were ranked high. In the pre-treatment phase, test-related needs were ranked higher for both caregivers and patients. Meanwhile, patients had more highly ranked terms in the post-treatment phase, showing their high need in this phase, especially terms related to post-treatment symptoms. Caregivers had higher term frequencies of food intake during the post-treatment phase.

This study demonstrated that the needs of colorectal cancer patients and their caregivers were not always consistent in each treatment phase. Therefore, the needs of both patients and caregivers should be considered separately in each treatment phase and supportive interventions should be provided accordingly.