Clinical evaluation and pattern of symptoms in colorectal cancer patients

Abstract

Background – Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer in the world and the increased survival of the colorectal cancer population is very significant. Thus, it becomes relevant to study the symptoms associated with the progression of the disease and treatment, for proper clinical management. Objective – To describe the clinical and epidemiological profile of colorectal cancer patients and to identify the most prevalent signs and symptoms patterns. Methods – Cross-sectional study evaluating the prevalence of symptoms in 348 colorectal cancer patients admitted to a referral oncology hospital. We applied MSAS-BR scale and, through factor analysis with principal componente analysys, we performed the grouping of symptoms. Results – There was a predominance of men, aged 60 years or older, married, white, with high school, moderately differentiated tumor, stage III/IV disease, colon cancer and no distant metastasis. The most prevalent symptoms were weight loss (67.53%) and the least prevalent were mouth sores (2.01%). The groupings of symptoms established were “fatigue and psychic symptoms”, “gastrointestinal symptoms”, “self-perceptive symptoms” and “general symptoms”, which described 80% of the symptoms presented. Conclusion – We evidenced the importance of identifying these symptoms clusters in order to improve strategies for clinical management in patients with colorectal cancer.