The stomach is the main digestive organ in humans. Patients with
gastric cancer often develop digestive problems, which result in poor nutrition. Nutritional status is closely related to postoperative complications and quality of life (QoL) in patients with
gastric cancer. The controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score is a novel tool to evaluate the nutritional status of patients. However, the relationship of the CONUT score with postoperative complications, QoL, and psychological status in patients with
gastric cancer has not been investigated. The present follow-up study was conducted in 106 patients who underwent radical
gastrectomy in our hospital between 2014 and 2019. The CONUT score, postoperative complications, psychological status, postoperative QoL scores, and overall survival (OS) of patients with
gastric cancer were collected, and the relationship between them was analyzed. A significant correlation was observed between the CONUT score and postoperative complications of
gastric cancer (P < 0.001), especially
anastomotic leakage (P = 0.037). The multivariate regression analysis exhibited that the CONUT score (P = 0.002) is an independent risk factor for postoperative complications. The CONUT score was correlated with the state anxiety questionnaire (S-AI) for evaluating psychological status (P = 0.032). However, further regression analysis exhibited that the CONUT score was not an independent risk factor for psychological status. Additionally, the CONUT score was associated with postoperative QoL. The multivariate regression analysis exhibited that the CONUT score was an independent risk factor for the global QoL (P = 0.048). Moreover, the efficiency of CONUT score, prognostic nutrition index, and
serum albumin in evaluating complications, psychological status, and QoL was compared, and CONUT score was found to outperform the other measures (Area Under Curve, AUC = 0.7368). Furthermore, patients with high CONUT scores exhibited shorter OS than patients with low CONUT scores (P = 0.005). Additionally, the postoperative complications (HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.21-0.92, P = 0.028), pathological stage (HR 2.26, 95% CI 1.26-4.06, P = 0.006), and global QoL (HR 15.24, 95% CI 3.22-72.06, P = 0.001) were associated with OS. The CONUT score can be used to assess the nutritional status of patients undergoing
gastric cancer surgery and is associated with the incidence of postoperative complications and QoL.