Abstract:
Objective To investigate the influencing factors of quality of life (QOL) in rectal cancer patients with long-term survival (LTS).
Methods A total of 107 patients with stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ rectal cancers were enrolled in this study.Questionnaires were used to determine the clinical factors affecting the QOL of rectal cancer patients with LTS.
Results Physical, emotional, social, and sexual functions were better in patients without colostomy than in those who underwent surgery.However, bowel function was worse in patients who did not undergo surgery (P < 0.05).A decrease in social function and QOL was observed in patients who underwent more treatments, and fatigue and insomnia symptoms were more obvious (P < 0.05).Logistic regression analysis indicated that treatment was an independent predictor of QOL and negatively correlated with QOL.
Conclusion Treatment is an independent predictor of QOL in patients with stageⅡand Ⅲ rectal cancers, and is negatively correlated with QOL.Surgery is a major factor that affects patient QOL. Improvement of medical technology and reasonable chemoradiotherapy should ameliorate the QOL of patients with LTS.