Psychological distress, quality of life, symptoms and unmet needs of colorectal cancer survivors near the end of treatment

Purpose This study investigated psychological morbidity,
quality of life (QoL), colorectal cancer (CRC)-specific symptoms
and supportive care needs in a CRC population at the
end of treatment (EOT).
Methods CRC survivors (n=152) completed a post-treatment
baseline questionnaire as part of a multisite supportive care
randomised controlled trial (SurvivorCare). CRC survivors
had completed treatment with curative intent within 0 to
6 months. Measures are as follows: Brief Symptom Inventory
18 (BSI-18) (psychological morbidity), EORTC QLQ-C30
and QLQ-CR29 (QoL and CRC-specific symptoms and problems)
and Cancer Survivors’ Unmet Needs (CaSUN) measure
with a simplified response format (unmet needs). Linear regression
models were used to compare participants’ QoL with
a general population sample. Correlation analysis examined
associations between psychological morbidity, QoL and
CRC-specific symptoms and problems.
Results Average participant age was 64 years, and 51 % were
male. The majority (68 %) had stage 3 disease. In comparison
to population norms, CRC survivors had lower depression and
anxiety scores (47.4 and 45.6, respectively) but higher
somatisation, and lower role, cognitive and social functioning
(p<0.001). CRC survivors had higher fatigue, nausea/
vomiting, appetite loss, diarrhoea and financial problems (all
p<0.001), as well as pain (p=0.002) and constipation (p=
0.019). CRC-specific psychological scores were positively
correlated with all three BSI domain scores, and pain and
fatigue symptom scores on the QLQ-C30 while negatively
correlated with all five functional scales of the QLQ-C30.