Unmet Needs and Quality of Life of Colorectal Cancer Survivors Immediately after Treatment Ends and 5 Years

Purpose: This study was conducted to understand the unmet needs and quality of life of colorectal cancer survivors immediately after the end of primary treatment and 5 years later. Methods: This study was designed as a cross-sectional, descriptive, and correla-tion study. Data collection was conducted from July 2021 to December 2021. A total of 256 colorectal cancer survivors participated in the study, including 121 immediately after treatment and 135 five years later, among survivors of colorectal cancer who visited colorectal surgery outpatient clinics at two hospitals in Korea. We investigated unmet needs and quality of life immediately after the end of treatment and after five years. Data were assessed by using self-reported structured questionnaires. Results: It was confirmed that colorectal cancer survivors had higher unmet needs and lower quality of life immediately after the end of treatment than after 5 years. Additionally, regardless of the period after the end of treatment, the higher the unmet needs, the lower the quality of life. Con-clusion: Based on the results of this study, when developing and applying nursing interventions for managing colorectal cancer sur-vivors, it will be helpful to improve the quality of life by identifying differences in unmet needs for each survival period.