Medical, social, and personal factors as correlates of quality of life among older cancer patients with permanent stoma.

Abstract

The vast majority of cancer patients experience a substantial reduction in their quality of life (QOL) following a stoma procedure. There is a paucity of studies that examine QOL of patients with stoma and only a small percentage of these studies focuses on older patients. This study assesses the level of QOL of older patients with a permanent stoma; and examines the associations between three categories of variables -personal, medical, and social -and QOL. This was a cross-sectional study. Seventy-five older cancer patients (M = 75.1 SD = 8.6) with permanent stoma participated in the study. Participants were recruited by their physicians from hospitals and clinics in the central region of Israel. All study measures were valid and reliable. Participants reported a moderate mean level of QOL. Men's QOL scores were higher than those of women. Positive correlations were found between perceived body image, self-care, self-efficacy, social support and QOL. A negative correlation was found between anxiety and QOL. Three variables emerged as significant predictors of QOL: self-efficacy (β = 0.41, P < .001), perceived body image (β = 0.41, P < .001), and gender (β = -0.14, P < .05). The model explained a variance of 73.6%. Self-efficacy, perceived body image, and gender are the most important factors for QOL of older patients with stoma in this study. These three personal variables are more significant to QOL than either the medical or the social variables. The personal variables need to be considered by nurses when developing intervention programs aimed at increasing QOL among older cancer patients with permanent stoma.