Factors impairing quality of life for people with an ostomy

The DialogueStudy documented real-life experiences of the use of a double-layer adhesive ostomy appliance, SenSura (Coloplast A/S) with a focus on quality of life (QoL) and peristomal skin conditions. The overall mean QoL measured using the Stoma-QoL questionnaire improved from 58.1 ±10.2 at visit 1 to 59.9 ±9.9 at visit 2, 6–8 weeks later (P<0.0001). Factors correlating with QoL at visit 1 included leakage from the ostomy appliance, peristomal skin condition, age, gender and time since surgery. Three factors correlated with the improvement in QoL from visit 1 to visit 2: male gender, baseline leakage level and baseline Stoma-QoL value. As frequency of leakage influenced both the baseline QoL and the change in QoL, minimizing leakage is an important goal for stoma care nurses to improve the QoL for people with an ostomy.