Does Preoperative Ostomy Education Decrease Anxiety in the New Ostomy Patient? A Quantitative Comparison Cohort Study

The purpose of this study was to determine if patients undergoing presurgical ostomy education and routine postoperative education experienced less postsurgical anxiety than patients undergoing routine preoperative education.

Quantitative, prospective, comparison cohort study.

The sample comprised 30 participants divided into 2 groups; one group received preoperative ostomy education and stoma site marking, along with postoperative ostomy education, while the other received only postoperative ostomy education. Each group had an equal number of males (n = 11) and females (n = 4). The mean age for the groups was 65.27 (SD = 9.97) and 61.87 (SD = 17.56) years, respectively; this difference was not statistically significant (P > .05). The intervention group included 9 patients who underwent colostomy, 4 who underwent ileostomy, and 2 who underwent urostomy. The comparison group comprised 10 patients with colostomies, 4 with ileostomies, and 1 with a urostomy. The study setting was a 385-bed tertiary hospital in Northern California. Data collection occurred from November 2, 2018, to February 22, 2019.

Postoperative anxiety levels were evaluated in both groups during their postoperative ostomy education session. Anxiety level was measured using the anxiety domain of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Survey (HADS), which was administered during their postoperative educational session. Analysis of variance was used to compare the difference between the HADS anxiety domain scores between the groups.

Patients who received preoperative ostomy education had statistically significant lower postsurgical anxiety scores than patients who had standard education (P < .001).

Study findings suggest that preoperative ostomy education, when offered in addition to routine preoperative education, significantly lowers anxiety when compared to patients managed by routine preoperative education alone.