Abstract
Background/Aims: Some colorectal cancer (CRC) patients require a permanent ostomy (a surgically created opening on the exterior of the abdomen that allows feces to be eliminated from the body). An ostomy can create psychosocial distress for women and affect their body image, sense of self, and sexual functioning. Little is known, however, about how a husband’s (or long-term male partner’s) support influences their wife’s psychosocial recovery.
Methods: In this multi-site, NCI-funded study of long-term CRC survivors, participants completed the modified City of Hope-Quality of Life questionnaire, which yields scores of health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). We then conducted in-depth interviews with 30 female participants covering the topics of body image; sexuality in terms of personal history; meanings of sexuality practices and desires; and information needs regarding sexuality. Interviews were tape recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using standard qualitative methods. We compared women’s global HR-QOL survey scores to interview discussions about husbands’ support and psychosocial adjustment to an ostomy.
Results: Of the 30 interviewees, 22 were married/partnered at the time of surgery or shortly thereafter. Of the 22 married/partnered women, 17 described positive support from their husbands as key to psychosocial adjustment, 3 described how a lack or withdrawal of support impeded recovery, and 2 described their husbands’ support as neither positive nor negative. Among the 20 women who expressed either a positive or negative influence of their husbands’ support, correlations with HR-QOL were noted. In 17 cases, women’s high or low HR-QOL scores matched the positive or negative qualitative findings. The remaining 3 cases had positive qualitative data and low HR-QOL scores, but each of these women had serious current comorbidities.
Conclusions: Husbands’/partners’ support or lack thereof can have considerable short-term and long-term influences on the psychosocial recovery of female CRC patients with ostomies. Future research could validate these findings in a larger sample.
- Received September 11, 2008.
