Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is common worldwide. The high prevalence of the disease raises concerns about how CRC influences the health-related quality of life (QoL). To explore the impact of physiological symptoms and complications of CRC on patients' QoL, we conducted a cross-sectional survey using the FACT-C self-report instrument. The chi-square test was used to compare qualitative data. We found that pain was reported by most of the patients (n = 31; 77.5 %). Furthermore, male patients were more likely to complain of pain "mostly" as compared with females (P = .032). We found no significant differences between genders regarding general health-related questions. A greater proportion of male patients often complained of abdominal cramps (P = .542), weight loss (P = .086), and diarrhea (P = .408). More than half of the patients (n = 26; 65 %) reported having a good appetite; a greater proportion of males reported having a good appetite "mostly" (P = .014). Social and psychological qualities of life were not significantly different between male and female patients. Male and female patients did not differ in their report of disease acceptance (P = .420) and ability to enjoy life (P = .744). No difference was also found between genders regarding contentment with QoL (P = .793) or ability to sleep well (P = .695). Furthermore, there were no differences between genders regarding job fulfillment (P = .272). Our results add to the growing body of knowledge about the effect of CRC on QoL. Importantly, the differences in self-reported pain and appetite between male and female patients in our study suggest the importance of gender-based treatments in improving patients' QoL.