Qualidade de vida, dor, depressão e ansiedade em pacientes com câncer de reto tratados cirurgicamente

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate Life Quality, pain, anxiety and depression in patients treated for medium and lower rectum cancer, submitted to surgical intervention for healing aims. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Eighty-eight patients with medium and lower rectum cancer, submitted to surgical intervention for healing aims were selected, and enrolled from January 2006 to December 2010. Forty-seven patients died within the study period, and the other 41 were studied. Question forms EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-CR38 were used to assess life quality. Pain evaluation was carried out using the Visual Analogical Scale, depression and anxiety were assessed through Depression Inventories and Beck’s Anxiety, respectively. The correlation between pain intensity, depression and anxiety was carried out, and between these and the EORTC QLQ-C30 General Scale for Health status and Overall Life Quality, as well as the EORTC QLQ-CR38 functional and symptom scales. Results: Of the 41 patients of the study, 52% presented pain, depression in 47%, and anxiety in 39%. There was a marking positive correlation between pain intensity and depression. There was a moderate negative correlation between depression and general health status, and overall life quality as well as pain intensity with the latter. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between future depression perspective and sexual function, and also a strong positive correlation between depression and sexual impairments. A positive correlation between anxiety and gastro-intestinal sexual problems is observed, both statistically significant.