Individuals with a Permanent Ostomy: Quality of Life and Out-of-Pocket Financial Costs for Ostomy Management.

MEDICAL economics; HEALTH self-care; ENTEROSTOMY equipment; AGE distribution; ANALYSIS of covariance; COMPARATIVE studies; CONFERENCES & conventions; STATISTICAL correlation; RESEARCH methodology; OSTOMATES; QUALITY of life; QUESTIONNAIRES; STATISTICAL sampling; T-test (Statistics); WORLD Wide Web; INFORMATION resources; HEALTH insurance reimbursement; STATISTICAL power analysis; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; ECONOMICS

The article focuses on a study of individuals in the U.S. with a permanent ostomy including their quality of life (QOL) and the cost of managing ostomy. Topics discussed include the negative impact of out-of-pocket financial cost for ostomy management on the QOL of ostomy patients, the role that nurses should play in the integration of patient-focused health care and the difficulty in determining the exact number and prevalence of ostomy surgery in the country.