Undergoing treatment for colorectal cancers creates complications that negatively affect nutritional status. The purpose of this study was to identify demographic and treatment variables related to nutrition-related complications in patients with colon and/or rectal cancers in patients in an outpatient oncology clinic. The researcher administered a survey to determine prevalence of nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, taste changes, loss of appetite within the last two weeks, and the impact of these symptoms on appetite (“not at all” to “a lot”). In addition, demographic data, BMI, biochemical values, type of cancer, and chemotherapy regimen were recorded from the patient’s medical record. Chi-squared analysis was used to determine the difference in the prevalence of negative gastrointestinal symptoms and gender, race, type of cancer and chemotherapy regimen. ANOVA was used to evaluate mean differences in age, BMI, and months of treatment based on the nutrition-related complications reported. Of the 17 participants, 64.7% were male, and 94.1% were Caucasian. Colon cancer was reported in 70.6% of the participants, and four chemotherapy agents were identified. Seventy-one percent of those experiencing taste changes reported decreases in intake. The use of the chemotherapy agent bevacizumab was found to be significantly related to the positive incidence of diarrhea (X2 (6, N = 17) = 18.46, p < 0.005). No other significant differences were noted. Due to the small sample size results are limited. However, a larger sample size may allow future researchers to identify and proactively intervene in order to maintain nutrition status in patients with colorectal cancers.
