Quality of life assessment among patients with peristomal skin disease

No data exist to describe how a skin problem may additionally affect the quality of life (QOL) in ostomates. We have studied the QOL in patients with peristomal skin problems and the variables that may affect it.

A total of 141 ostomates (74 cases and 67 controls) received a set of three life quality questionnaires, that is, Short Form-36, Dermatological Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Ostomy Adjustment Scale (OAS).

The mean DLQI score was significantly higher in cases than controls (1.7 vs. 0.8; P=0.0026) (higher scores indicating lower QOL), and the mean OAS score was significantly lower in cases than controls (151 vs. 166; P=0.0083) (lower OAS score indicating poorer adjustment/QOL). Similarly, patients with self-reported peristomal skin problem had a significantly higher mean DLQI score (2.6 vs. 0.8; P=0.004) and a significantly lower OAS score (145 vs. 163; P=0.046) than ostomates who did not report a skin problem, but were diagnosed with a skin problem by a dermatologist. The QOL scores were inversely proportional to the physician-assessed severity of the skin problem.

A small but significant negative impact on the QOL was found for ostomates with skin problems compared with ostomates without a skin problem. Similarly, ostomates with self-reported skin problems had scores indicating a lower QOL. The severity of the skin problem as assessed by the physician correlated with the QOL, ostomates with a severer skin problem had lower QOL than those with a milder skin problem.