Stoma anxieties: a comparison of the attitudes of Asian migrants and the indigenous population in the United Kingdom towards abdominal surgery and the role of intestinal stomas.

We have studied stoma care nurses' experience with Asian patients having a stoma. The general public's attitudes to abdominal surgery in general were assessed in a survey of employees in Leicester. Many stoma care nurses are aware of the needs of Asian patients, especially with regards to ethnic dress, but only half of the ostomists who wanted to see a stoma care nurse or fellow ostomist were able to do so (chi 2 = 4.5, p less than 0.03). All ostomists considered counselling on education, employment and marriage inadequate. There is a high level of anxiety about stomas and these anxieties are surprisingly similar for all ethnic groups.