BackgroundColorectal cancer is diagnosed in approximately 500,000 patients each year in Europe, leading to a high number of patients having to cope with the consequences of resection for colorectal... Show moreBackgroundColorectal cancer is diagnosed in approximately 500,000 patients each year in Europe, leading to a high number of patients having to cope with the consequences of resection for colorectal cancer. As treatment options tend to grow, more information on the effects of these treatments is needed to engage in shared decision-making. This study aims to explore the impact of resection for colorectal cancer on patients' daily life.MethodsPatients (≥18 years of age) who underwent an oncological colorectal resection between 2018 and 2021 were selected. Purposeful sampling was used to include patients who differed in age, comorbidity conditions, types of (neo)adjuvant therapy, postoperative complications and the presence/absence of a stoma. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, guided by a topic guide. Interviews were fully transcribed and subsequently thematically analysed using the framework approach. Analyses were carried out using the following predefined themes: (1) daily life and activities; (2) psychological functioning; (3) social functioning; (4) sexual functioning; and (5) healthcare experiences.ResultsSixteen patients with a follow-up period of between 0.6 and 4.4 years after surgery were included in this study. Participants reported several challenges experienced because of poor bowel function, a stoma, chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, fear of recurrence and sexual dysfunction. However, they reported these as not interfering much with daily life.ConclusionColorectal cancer treatment leads to several challenges and treatment-related health deficits. This is often not recognized by generic patient-reported outcome measures, but the findings on treatment-related health deficits presented in this study contain valuable insights which might contribute to improving colorectal cancer care, shared decision making and value-based health care. Show less
Beekman, M.; Schutte, B.A.M.; Akker, E.B. van den; Noordam, R.; Dibbets-Schneider, P.; Geus-Oei, L.F. de; ... ; Slagboom, P.E. 2020
Scope Abdominal obesity is one of the main modifiable risk factors of age-related cardiometabolic disease. Cardiometabolic disease risk and its associated high abdominal fat mass, cholesterol, and... Show moreScope Abdominal obesity is one of the main modifiable risk factors of age-related cardiometabolic disease. Cardiometabolic disease risk and its associated high abdominal fat mass, cholesterol, and glucose concentrations can be reduced by a healthier lifestyle. Hence, the aim is to understand the relation between lifestyle-induced changes in body composition, and specifically abdominal fat, and accompanying changes in circulating metabolic biomarkers.Methods and results Data from the Growing Old Together (GOTO) study was used, which is a single arm lifestyle intervention in which 164 older adults (mean age 63 years, BMI 23-35 kg/m(2)) changed their lifestyle during 13 weeks by 12.5% caloric restriction plus 12.5% increase in energy expenditure. It is shown here that levels of circulating metabolic biomarkers, even after adjustment for body mass index, specifically associate with abdominal fat mass. The applied lifestyle intervention mainly reduces abdominal fat mass (-2.6%, SD = 3.0) and this reduction, when adjusted for general weight loss, is highly associated with decreased circulating glycerol concentrations and increased HDL diameter.Conclusion The lifestyle-induced reduction of abdominal fat mass is particularly associated, independent of body mass index or general weight loss, with decreased circulating glycerol concentrations and increased HDL diameter. Show less
Noordam, R.; Vermond, D.; Drenth, H.; Wijman, C.A.; Akintola, A.A.; Kroef, S. van der; ... ; Heemst, D. van 2017
