A Questionnaire to Assess the Quality of Life of Rectal Cancer Patients With or Without Stoma

Prospective Evaluation of Quality of Life in Patient With Rectal Cancer

The aim of the present prospective study was to evaluate the prediction accuracy of EORTC QLQ-C30/C38 questionnaire in rectal cancer patient(RC). This study was designed to investigate how the quality of life (QoL) of patients with rectal cancer changes with time after cancer or after stomia.

Eligible subjects were consecutively enrolled in the investigators' Institute and subjected to EORTC QLQ-C30/C38 questionnaire.

Eligibility criteria: Italian people with adenocarcinoma of rectum. Exclusion criteria consisted of age younger than 18 years, history of psychiatric illness, and preoperative radiotherapy.

Outcome measures: patient was carried out using a EORTC QLQ-C30/C38 questionnaire.To determine how surgery affects QoL, we divided patients into two groups: first rectal cancer submitted to rectal anterior resection(RAR) and latter rectal cancer submitted to rectal anterior resection with stomia(RARS). Differences in QoL between the two groups were analyzed during three time: first preoperative, second postoperative and latter six month later of after the stoma reconversion in RARS patients

Inclusion Criteria:

• Rectal cancer

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age younger than 18 years
• History of psychiatric illness
• Preoperative radiotherapy