Abstract
Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide especially among males, and has been considered the third among females. Methods: Objective: to evaluate the quality of life of patients suffering from colorectal cancer Methods: Descriptive design was applied in order to achieve the goal of this study. The study was carried out at outpatient clinics of King Fand and King Khalid Hospitals. A purposive sample of colorectal cancer patients (n= 40) in the previous hospitals were included. Three tools of data collection included: 1) self-administrated questionnaire sheet which included socio-demographic data and clinical features of the studied patients; 2) The standardized EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire which was used to assess the quality of life; and, 3) The INFO 25 which had a 25-item module, to assess the information provision among the studied patients. Results: The findings revealed that, 57.5% of the studied subjects were males, and 42.5% of them were females but only 25.0% of them had rectal cancer. Also, cognitive functioning rated the highest with the mean value of 77.01 +/- 5.60, while the emotional functioning scored the lowest, and pain was considered the most distressing symptom with the mean score of 62.43 + 10.32 followed by fatigue, and the highest knowledge score for the helpfulness of information received and the information about treatments, and the lowest knowledge score was for the information about different places of care. Conclusion: Patients performed well on most of EORTCQLQ-C30 functional scales, and the lowest score was obtained for the emotional functioning. Pain, fatigue and insomnia were the most stressful symptoms. Patients reported the highest knowledge score for the helpfulness of information received and the information about treatments, while the information about different places of care got the lowest knowledge score.