Psychosocial adjustment following ostomy.

Ostomy patients have been identified as a chronic illness population frequently experiencing adjustment difficulties. The present study, based on the biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977) of chronic illness, examined a range of post-surgical adjustment difficulties in a sample of 131 ostomy patients. The patient population reported experiencing a significant number of technical, emotional, social, marital/family, and sexual difficulties post-surgically. Technical difficulties were associated with impaired emotional, social, and marital/family functioning. Emotional difficulties were also associated with problematic social, marital/family adjustment, and impaired sexual functioning. Technical problems, emotional difficulties, and social problems were all associated with the patient's perception of having received inadequate preparatory information. Marital/family and sexual maladjustment, on the other hand, were associated with low levels of perceived social support. The results of this investigation are interpreted as supporting the biopsychosocial model of chronic illness, and the clinical implications of these findings are discussed as well as their relation to previous research on adjustment to stressful medical procedures.