Low back pain in people with a stoma: a postal survey.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether low back pain (LBP) is a problem for people with a stoma.


METHODS
Following ethical approval, a postal questionnaire was sent to the Ileostomy Association of Northern Ireland (n = 402).


RESULTS
The response rate was 81.6%. Two hundred ninety three (72.8%) were included in the analysis. The participants fell into three groups: those who never had LBP (n = 102, 34.8%), those who had LBP but not within the last 6 months (n = 26, 8.9%) and those who had LBP within the last 6 months (n = 165, 56.3%). Participants with LBP (n = 165) compared the ease with which they could carry out everyday tasks: 'before' and 'since' surgery. There was a mean increased difficulty of between 1.75 and 2.26 points across all tasks. The Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire scores ranged from 0 to 24 with 50% having a score of 8/24 or higher. Some participants (n = 76, 46.1%) believed that the stoma surgery was the reason for their back pain, followed by 27.9% (n = 46) blaming weak muscles. Others (53.3%) thought their back pain was worsening. There was a significant rise in the incidence of first episode back pain within a year of surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that LBP is a problem for people with a stoma.
Wilson
I M
IM
School of Health Sciences, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UK. i.wilson@ulster.ac.uk
Kerr
D P
DP
Lennon
S
S
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054047:Surgical Stomas; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires