Social Isolation and its impact in the Ostomate Community

Introduction

The recent few years have seen a rise in studies investigating the effect of a patient’s ostomy on their post-operative quality of life. These studies predominantly conclude that ostomy surgery and life with a stoma exert an impact on the ostomate’s health, mental, and physical related quality of life. However to date only a handful of studies have investigated the effects of social isolation on a domain of quality of life: life satisfaction.

Aims/Methods

The purpose of this study has been to investigate the effect of social isolation on an ostomate’s life satisfaction.  The analysis utilizes a subset (n=2564) of the Ostomy Comprehensive Health and Life Assessment survey (N=4097). Social isolation was measured with the Hawthorne Friendship Scale.[1]

The life satisfaction index is a cumulative score from questions of satisfaction with social life, life with spouse/partner, family life, leisure time, financial status, and overall contentment.  The score ranges between 0 and 24, with scores of 9 or less indicating a negative life satisfaction.

Analysis was conducted via logistic regression and classification trees.

Results

While a majority of the participants are socially connected, 15% are classified with some social isolation and 20% are isolated or very isolated.  Logistic regression finds those who are socially isolated 8.8 (95% CI: 6.3-12.2) times more likely to have lower life satisfaction. To counteract the large unbalance of isolated to connected participants, 5000 tree simulations were employed revealing socially isolated participants at a 50% increase for lower life satisfaction.

Conclusions

The results suggest that social isolation plays a significant role in an ostomate’s life satisfaction. Given the connection between life satisfaction and quality of life, the need to recognize aspects of social isolation and implement methods to overcome it are clear.