Health-related quality of life and lifestyle in long-term survivors of colorectal cancer and a matched non-cancer reference group.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the long-term health status of a group of survivors of colorectal cancer (CRC) with a reference group of individuals who did not have cancer. We determined the physical, mental, and general health-related quality of life (HRQoL); overall morbidities and CRC-specific morbidities related to the delayed effects of treatment; and maintenance of a healthy lifestyle in these two groups.

METHODS

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from 2016 to 2019 in the Balearic Islands (Spain). CRC patients who were diagnosed from 2011 to 2012 and survived at least 5 years were randomly selected from the Majorca and Eivissa-Formentera cancer registries. The reference group consisted of individuals matched for gender and age who had no history of cancer.

RESULTS

We examined 201 CRC survivors and 199 matched individuals without cancer. The global analysis showed that the two groups had similar scores in the physical and mental components of the Short Form 12 (SF-12) HRQoL scale and in general health status. The CRC survivors had significantly higher prevalence of general comorbidity and CRC-specific comorbidity. Multivariate analyses and calculation of odds ratios (ORs) showed that the groups had similar physical HRQoL (Model 1, OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.99-1.03), mental HRQoL (Model 2, OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.66-1.01), and general HRQoL (Model 3, OR: 1.67, 95% CI: 0.39-1.13). However, the long-term CRC survivors had significantly greater ORs for an increased overall comorbidity index, number of CRC-specific comorbidity, and obesity in all three models (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The CRC survivors and individuals without cancer had similar HRQoL, suggesting that CRC survivors do not need additional services that aim to improve HRQoL. Nonetheless, health care providers should be pro-active when caring for CRC survivors, because they are more likely to present with certain comorbidity and less likely to follow a healthy lifestyle.