A descriptive survey study to evaluate the relationship between socio-demographic factors and quality of life in patients with a permanent colostomy

The impact of having a stoma on quality of life is increasingly recognized and studied. A descriptive survey study was conducted between January 2006 and December 2011 among 44 patients (18 women, 26 men) with a permanent stoma receiving care at the Kartal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, to evaluate socio-demographic factors that may affect the quality of life in Turkish Muslim patients with an enteral stoma. A socio-demographic questionnaire, a 10-item Religious Orientation Scale (Modified Allport-Ross ROS), and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 Quality of Life survey were administered by a stoma therapy nurse at least 6 months after completion of all surgical and oncological treatments. The mean follow-up period was 15.3 ± 9.7 (range 6-44) months since completion of all treatments. Data were collected using paper/pencil instruments and entered for data analysis using Studentg™s t-tests or one-way ANOVA univariate and multivariate analyses. No significant differences were observed for income, education level, surgical history, or religion score. Gender, geographic region, and household status were found independently related to quality of life in stoma patients. Female patients had significantly lower scores than males in general health perception (P ≤ 0.049), role emotion (P ≤ 0.02), mental health perception (P ≤ 0.026), and mental component (P ≤ 0.007). Patients living in a village (four) had significantly lower scores than patients living in a big city (33) in all scales (P <0.05 for all comparisons). Village-dwelling patents also had significantly lower scores than patients living in a town (seven) in physical function (P ≤ 0.001), vitality (P ≤ 0.012), social function (P ≤ 0.003), and mental component scores (P ≤ 0.021). Patients living alone (seven) had significantly lower scores than patients living with a partner (11) in three of eight scales (physical functioning [P <0.001], role-physical [P ≤ 0.047], and bodily pain [P ≤ 0.015]) and physical component scores (P <0.001); they also had significantly lower scores than patients living with their families (26) in four of eight scales (physical functioning [P <0.001], role-physical [P ≤ 0.032], bodily pain [P ≤ 0.02], and general health perception [P≤0.036]) and physical component scores (P <0.001). Although these findings provide evidence for the relationship between some socio-demographic factors on quality of life of patients with a stoma, the results of the study should be interpreted with caution; multicenter, prospective, controlled studies are needed to substantiate and clarify the relationships among these variables.