This is a cross-sectional study with a descriptive quantitative approach, which aimed to assess the quality of life (QOL) of patients with colorectal cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy. The research was conducted in an Outpatient Chemotherapy Unit at a hospital in southern Brazil, whose patients were diagnosed with colorectal cancer and were treated with the 5-FU protocol. The sample had 48 participants who were undergoing chemotherapy for a period of six months. A questionnaire, the WHOQOL-Bref, was used as an instrument. In the results, the age of 50 years or more with at least a month and a maximum of 11 months of treatment prevailed. The domains of the WHOQOL-Bref more significantly affected were the psychological and the social relations one, respectively, with significant differences in responses regarding overall QOL in those who were in the first cycle of treatment from those already in the 6th cycle.
Quality of life; Drug therapy; Oncologic nursing
