Health anxiety - impact on adjustment in stoma patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The association between health anxiety and psychological adjustment in patients undergoing stoma surgery.
IRAS ID
124924
Contact name
Simone Raenker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Holloway, University of London
Research summary
The purpose of this study is to investigate how patients undergoing stoma surgery adjust to having a stoma and how this impacts their psychological well-being. We are interested in finding out whether health anxious thoughts and behaviours might be related to how patients cope. Moreover, we hypothesise that the level of stoma care self-efficacy (i.e.. their beliefs to be able to take care of their stoma) as well as pre- and post-stoma related variables (i.e. the extent to which participants felt prepared for living with a stoma and the extent to which the physical symptoms before surgery have impacted the patients' well-being) might be related to adjustment in this patient group. A secondary aim of this study is to investigate differences between patients undergoing planned versus emergency stoma surgery.
This quantitative study has a prospective, cross-sectional and longitudinal design with four points of measurement (T1 pre-operation, T2 4 - 6 weeks post-operation, T3 3 months follow-up, and T4 6 months follow-up). Participants will be recruited from NHS settings.
The cross-sectional part of this study will investigate the following questions:
A. How do patients undergoing stoma surgery present on their levels of 1) depression and anxiety, 2) health anxiety, 3) adjustment to stoma, 4) stoma care self-efficacy after surgery, and what is the relationship between these variables in understanding adjustment to stoma.
B. Do patients undergoing stoma surgery on an emergency basis differ from patients with planned surgery in terms of these variables?The longitudinal part of the study will investigate the relationship between health anxiety, adjustment to stoma, and stoma care self-efficacy over time.
Participants will complete a set of reliable and valid self-report measures. The main analysis will be conducted using multiple regression analysis. This study aims to aid the identification of patients who might develop adjustment difficulties due to pre- and post-surgery factors. Thus, it is hoped to help care teams to identify and support those patients in need.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/1286
Date of REC Opinion
21 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion