ABSTRACT

Aim:

The aim of this literature review is to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate research and publications on patients with stoma in Turkey and to contribute and improve the quality of care for patients with stoma by shedding light on new studies.

Method:

Dokuz Eylül University electronic data base (n=71), ULAKBİM (Turkish Academic Network and Information Center), Pubmed, Council of Higher Education Thesis Center, Google Scholar, congress websites, accessible conference/symposium books and reference lists of articles were searched online.

Results:

Two hundred and seventy-eight studies (between January 1981 and January 2016) were reached. These studies were 54% (n=100) research articles, 14% (n=27) thesis, 15% (n=28) review articles, 14% (n=27) case reports and 3% (n=6) qualitative research; Rate of studies being published in international journals was 7% (n=20). More than half, 65% (n=182) of the studies were in the form of full/summary text. Descriptive (retrospective, prospective, cross-sectional) research articles made up 80% (n=80), ampirical articles made up 8% (n=8) and methodological research made up 6% (n=6) of research articles; 58% (n=19) of the thesis was of master’s, 11% (n=3) was of expertise in medicine, 18% (n=5) was PhD thesis; 15% (n=6) of thesis was published in a journal. It was found that out of 107 studies that were presented at the congress 71% (n=76) was original research, 18% (n=19) was case report and 9% (n=11) was review. Studies were on stoma complications (17%), life quality (12%), stoma surgery techniques and comparison of effectiveness (10%), patient follow-up results (6%), sexuality (6%), patient experience (4%), adaptation to ostomy (4%), body image (4%), self-esteem (3%), nurse/patient knowledge level about ostomy care (3%).

Conclusion:

It was seen that most of the studies were descriptive and on stoma complications and quality of life. Morever, the ratio of publications published in international journals were low. More interventional studies should be conducted on adaptation to life with stoma for the patients in Turkey; these studies should be presented in congress and published in national/international journals.

Introduction

According to GLOBOCAN 2012 (estimated world cancer incidence, mortality, and prevalence), a project of International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), colorectal cancers are the 3rd, prostate cancers are the 2^nd, and bladder cancers are the 7th most common cancers in men worldwide. In women, most frequent cancers worldwide are colorectal cancers in the 2nd ranking, and uterine cancers (cervix uteri at 3rd rank, and corpus uteri at 5^th rank). More than half of the colorectal cancers (55%) are seen in developed countries.1 According to the 2016 report of American Cancer Society (ACS), colorectal cancers are the 3^rd most frequent cancers both in men and women.2 According to 2016 data of Turkey cancer statistics, colorectal cancer is the 3^rd most common cancer in both males and females. Stoma applications are rising in parallel with increasing numbers of surgeries due to increasing cancer incidences.3 According to literature data, primary reasons for intestinal and urinary stomas are colorectal and bladder cancer, respectively.4,5,6,7,8 Numbers of individuals continuing their life with a stoma are increasing due to particularly colorectal cancer, and other reasons. This increase is reflected to nursing care, and number of research on this subject is increasing rapidly by the advancing information and technology applications in nursing field. Qualitative and conceptual evaluation of entire studies will allow determination of the deficiencies in this field, and will crystalize new studies. Novel interventional studies will increase the quality of life of the individuals with stoma, will ease the adherence to life with stoma, and will help people to overcome the difficulties that they experience. Systematic reviews about patient education,9 stoma and peristomal complications,10 morbidity,11 and stoma care and management12 have been published before. But, a review that evaluated studies on individuals with stoma qualitatively and quantitatively could not be found. With this aim, all available studies on individuals with stoma are reviewed qualitatively and quantitatively.

Materials and Methods

Dokuz Eylül University electronic database, ULAKBİM (Turkish Academic Network and Information Center) National Database, National Dissertation Center, Pubmed, Google Scholar, and congress websites were scanned between December 2014 and July 2016. Following an online search, keywords stoma, ostomy, colostomy, ileostomy and urostomy were searched. Meeting/symposium proceedings and reference lists of the articles were also searched. Titles and abstracts of the manuscripts were assessed to prevent duplications. The scheme for manuscript search is presented in Figure 1.

Discussion

Conclusion

The evaluated studies were found to be generally descriptive studies that assessed problems of individuals with stoma, and how these problems affect their life. Publication rate of studies in international journals to increase international sharing of patient outcomes were found to be low.

Conducting interventional studies, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses in our country to ease compliance of individuals to stoma and increase quality of life, and presenting these studies in national/international scientific meetings and publishing these in national/international journals are suggested.

Interventional studies should target applications of clinical nurses and stoma nurses, and increasing patient outcomes. Providing continuous counseling to individuals with stoma and their families, utilizing novel education methods like web-based trainings, and conducting interventional studies for forming social support programs are thought to be useful. Additionally, publishing scientific meeting presentations and theses as original articles should contribute to enrich scientific literature about stoma, and should guide novel transdisciplinary-multicultural research to facilitate professionals in this field to adapt knowledge into application.