Health-related quality of life among persons living in Japan with a permanent colostomy.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of persons with a permanent colostomy to that of the general Japanese population and explore the factors influencing HRQOL.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey.


METHODS
A total of 255 persons with an ostomy who attended a meeting of the Japan Ostomy Association in the Kanto region of Japan.


METHODS
The HRQOL was assessed using Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Japanese version 1.2. Factors potentially influencing the HRQOL were age, sex, marital status, employment status, number of people in the household, time since colostomy, and diagnosis.


METHODS
Questionnaires were distributed to the subjects and SF-36 scores were determined and compared with the corresponding national-norm data by Wilcoxon signed rank sum test. A logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors.


RESULTS
The questionnaire response rate was 66.7%. Subjects with a urostomy or an ileostomy and those with missing data were excluded. Data from 102 subjects with a permanent colostomy were analyzed. The subjects' scores were significantly lower than the national-norm scores in the role-physical and social functioning scales. Being employed was associated with significantly lower scores or associated with a tendency toward lower scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Scores in two scales in these subjects were lower than those of national-norm scores. Being employed had a negative impact on the HRQOL of subjects with a permanent colostomy. The results of this study provide reference data for future research and underscore the importance of support for persons with a colostomy.
Ito
Naomi
N
Department of Adult Nursing/Terminal and Long-term Care Nursing, School of Health Sciences and Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan. nao-tky@umin.ac.jp
Tanaka
Makoto
M
Kazuma
Keiko
K
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003125:Colostomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012380:Role; D012919:Social Behavior; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires