Unmet Care Needs of Colorectal Cancer Survivors in Taiwan and Related Predictors

Despite advancements in medical technology and early cancer detection, many colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors report unmet care needs after completion of their cancer treatment that compromise their quality of life (QoL). Previous studies on the care needs of cancer survivors have yielded inconsistent results, and few studies have been conducted on survivors of CRC in Taiwan or on predictors of their unmet care needs.

The purpose of this study was to examine the unmet care needs, psychological distress, and QoL of Taiwanese CRC survivors ( n = 100) as well as to assess the mean differences by sociodemographic characteristics in their unmet care needs and other related predictors after treatment completion.

This cross-sectional study using a purposive sampling method was conducted at a regional hospital in northern Taiwan between October 2019 and February 2020. The measurements used in this study included Chinese Cancer Survivors' Unmet Needs, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and European Organization for Research and Treatment Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 and Quality of Life Questionnaire-Colorectal Cancer Module 29. The independent t test and one-way analysis of variance were employed to assess sociodemographic differences in unmet care needs, and multivariate linear regression was used to identify significant predictors.

More than half of the participants (63.2%) reported at least one unmet care need, with the highest categories including information needs ("signs and symptoms of cancer recurrence" 31.7% and "information related to health promotion" 31.7%), "medical care needs" ("managing health with the medical team" 13.9%), and "physical/psychological effect needs ("concerns about cancer recurrence" 23.8%). Also, 7%-57% of the participants experienced differing degrees of distress symptoms including fatigue, intestinal and urogenital dysfunctions, and anxiety or depression. The results of the univariate analyses showed unmet needs to differ significantly by age ( p = .021), employment status ( p = .007), and chronic disease status ( p = .025). The findings revealed being of older age (β = 0.23, p = .049), being employed (β = 0.26, p = .014), and having a lower functional level (β = -0.31, p = .012) to be associated with significantly higher levels of unmet care needs, collectively accounting for nearly 27.3% of the variance (adjusted R2 = .273).

CRC survivors continue to experience unmet care needs and various forms of physical-psychological distress for an average of almost 2 years after their completion of CRC treatment. The findings of this study may assist healthcare providers in identifying the major risk factors that interfere with survivor care needs following treatment, thus facilitating the development of timely interventions to mitigate the impact of cancer on this vulnerable population.