Previous studies have reported negative body image, psychological distress, and poor QOL in CRC patients in the long-term postoperative stage, and found that these variables can vary over time. However, few studies have investigated relations among body image, psychological distress, and QOL in the early postoperative stage. Only two studies of CRC patients reported associations of body image with anxiety and depression 12 weeks [11] and 9 weeks [12] after surgery. Previous studies indicate that the presence of a stoma negatively affects body image [6,12], and that body image predicts depression, anxiety, emotional QOL [11], and distress in CRC patients [12], as well as QOL in prostate cancer patients [13]. Stoma presence also predicts QOL in CRC patients [14]. One study showed that body image mediates the relationship between stigmatization and depressive symptomatology [15]. Greater body image distress is associated with worse psychosocial outcomes over time [16]. The above research suggests the possibility that body image mediates the effect of stoma status on psychological distress and QOL.