Temporal characteristics of social support in colorectal cancer survivors during the first year post operation.

Purpose: To describe the level of perceived social support and to identify its predictors among Chinese colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors during the first year post operation.

Methods: Newly diagnosed cases of colorectal cancer aged 18 and above who were admitted for curative surgery in a tertiary care hospital between January 2012 and July 2014 were consecutively recruited. This cohort study included 5 assessment waves over the first year post surgery (at baseline, 4-6 week, 3-month, 6-month and 12-month follow-up) regarding social support level among 189 CRC survivors. ANOVA and linear mixed models were applied to determine the change in social support and its predictors using SPSS version 18.0.

Results: Social support level remained relatively stable and high in the first 3 months post surgery, but decreased significantly at 6 months and then remained low afterwards, displaying an overall decreasing trend over time. Females, lower family income, lack of health insurance and advanced clinical disease stage were negatively associated with social support.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that the future intervention programs should commence soon after surgery, despite the fact that they were high before this time point.