Health-Related Quality of Life in Community-Dwelling Persons With Ostomies: The Physical Functioning Domain

The purpose of this study was to explore health-related quality of life in persons living with ostomies and to compare these findings with a community-dwelling population residing in the United States. This detailed analysis reports the magnitude of physical limitations for each domain within the Physical Component Summary.

Cross-sectional design.

Potential respondents were identified by randomly sampling from proprietary databases containing e-mail contact information provided by persons living with a fecal or urinary ostomy. The sample comprised 2329 persons with ostomies; most were male (53.4%), and living with a single fecal ostomy (82.7%) or urostomy (21%). Health-related quality of life was measured using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 version 2.

Persons with an ostomy are more likely to experience limitations in vigorous activity than individuals in the general population (odds ratio [OR]: 3.46, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.03-3.96) and activities requiring moderate exertion (OR: 2.72, 95% CI: 2.45-3.03). The prevalence of respondents reporting limitations was highest for those with colostomies.

Persons with ostomies are more likely to report significant limitations in physical health than age-matched persons in the general population. Additional research is needed to determine whether these limitations are caused by the ostomy itself or a combination of factors including the underlying disease that led to creation of a stoma.