ObjectiveTo investigate the supportive care needs (SCNs) and quality of life (QOL) of patients with thyroid cancer at different time points, and explore the trends and relation between the two. MethodsFrom April 2020 to July 2020, the convenience sampling method was used to select the patients with thyroid cancer that met the criteria, and the general data were collected before discharge. The 34-item Supportive Care Needs Survey and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 were used to investigate the SCNs and QOL of patients at preoperative 1 d and postoperative 2 d, 1 month and 6 months. ResultsA total of 102 patients met the criteria were included. Total score of SCNs (F=13.407, P<0.001) and the points of psychological (F=38.525, P<0.001), health information (F=7.935, P=0.006), physical and daily living (F=56.413, P<0.001), patient care and support (F=40.530, P<0.001) needs were statistically different at each time point. The highest need was the psychological need at preoperative 1 d, which was the health information need at each time point after operation, and total score of SCNs was the highest at postoperative 2 d. The points of physical function (F=18.490, P<0.001), cognitive function (F=86.943, P<0.001), emotional function (F=9.121, P=0.003), social function (F=7.117, P=0.009), and overall health status (F=3.156, P=0.039) were statistically different at each time point, which of the physical function, role function, emotional function, social function, and overall health status decreased to the lowest on day 2 after operation. The total score of SCNs at each time point was negatively correlated with the functional factors of the QOL and the overall health status score (P<0.05). ConclusionsThe SCNs and QOL of patients with thyroid cancer show different trends at different time points, and there is a correlation between the two. Medical staff needs to develop personalized interventions according to the different stages of the patients’ disease, and actively provide targeted support and care so as to improve their QOL.