Abstract
To study the quality of life (QOL) in gastric cancer patients treated by surgical methods or reconstruction methods, a questionnaire survey was conducted in patients who curatively resected, are having disease-free period of from 1 to 7 years, and have no recurrence. Replies were received from 132 of the 183 subjects to whom the questionnaire was mailed.
We divided patients who more the diagnosis “gastric cancer” in the questionnaire themselves into the group who had an insight into cancer.
Body-weight loss was more frequently observed in patients undergone total or subtotal gastrectomy, compared to those received distal gastrectomy. As to the reconstruction, more body-weight loss was observed in B-II than in B-I of distal gastrectomy, and in Roux-en Y than in interposition of jejunal segment in total gastrectomy. In other words, less body-weight loss was noted after the comparatively physiological reconstruction method. Complaints including diarrhea and abdominal pain were often made by the total gastrectomy patients, particulary by those who had received Roux-en Y reconstruction.
We tried to study how influence “the telling the diagnosis” gave to postoperative QOL in cancer patients. Both the worth for living and energy were affected, and in patients younger than 65 years old, recovery rates for social activities were 75.8% in those who were told the diagnosis and 88.0% in those who were not. The result suggest the importance of insight into cancer with regard to QOL.
