Ostomy-Psychosocial and Quality of Life Aspects

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study is being conducted study to determine whether or not an ostomy patient's contact with a WOC nurse improves quality of life for ostomy patients living in the Big Bend area of Northern Florida. METHODOLOGY: Home health agencies, hospitals, and a durable medical equipment (DME) company in Northern Florida were contacted to participate in the study. The role of the participating facilities was to address the provided envelopes and mail the patient survey packet (introductory letter, Ostomy Quality of Life Questionnaire [OQLQ], and demographic survey) directly to the patient. SAMPLE SIZE: Three hundred fifty packets were mailed with a return rate of 36% (N = 126). STATISTICS: A descriptive, nonexperimental design were used for data analysis. The Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used for test significance of the OQLQ and an exact Wilcoxon test was used for dichotomous comparisons when one of the categories had less than 10 respondents. RESULTS: The mean age was 62 and the mean time of living with an ostomy was 10 years. Ninety-six percent did not attend support groups, yet nearly 50% reported receiving education following discharge home. Within the various sections of the OQLQ there were statistically significant differences between the mean scores dependent on who a respondent lived with, the number of comorbidities, how the respondent received supplies, and the type of appliance worn. There was no significant difference between respondents who saw an ostomy nurse and those who did not among the various sections of the OQLQ, even though 83% indicated seeing an ostomy nurse. Body image was a concern to respondents. CONCLUSION: The data demonstrated that many of the respondents were not aware if the registered nurse caring for them was an ostomy nurse. It can be interpreted that durable medical equipment (DME) companies were providing education.