Psychiatry Research EG

Introduction: Depression, anxiety, stress, and poor quality of life (QoL) are often consequences of living with cancer. Cancer patients face the double challenge of learning to manage the physical as well as psychological effects of cancer. This study aimed to assess psychological symptoms and QoL among patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The study included a convenience sample of 151 patients who attended the outpatient clinic of the Oncology Department at Assiut University Hospital and South Egypt Cancer Institute (Assiut, Egypt). Patients were evaluated through demographic data sheet, socioeconomic status scale, QoL scale, and symptoms check list-90-revised. Results: Females represented 64.2% of the patients. Most of the patients (76.16%) were living in rural areas. Somatization was found in 32.45%, hostility in 27.8%, anxiety in 9.27%, and depression in 8.6%. Overall, 65.56% of the patients had a moderate level of QoL. A high percentage of those who had moderate QoL had somatization, depression, anxiety, hostility, and phobia. Conclusion and recommendations: These findings of high prevalence of different psychiatric symptoms and moderate level of QoL among CRC patients give the impression that, some of the patients with CRC might get benefit from psychiatric liaison to help them to deal with these challenges.