The effect of an interactive follow-up program on ostomy adjustment of inpatients after their discharge from surgical wards of the hospitals affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

PURPOSE: Ostomy patients suffer from many physical and mental problems, which can be solved to a large extent with the help of education and follow-up programs. These follow-ups can be done in person or on the telephone by the nurses, or even, by sending a text message that is an easier way for the patients to adapt to their condition. This study aimed to investigate the effect of an interactive follow-up program on the adjustment of ostomy inpatients after being discharged.

METHODS: This study is a clinical trial, conducted on 64 ostomy patients who were discharged from the surgical wards of the hospital affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Subjects in the experimental group participated in a 6-week follow-up program via text message. The information about the patients were collected by Olbrisch Ostomy Adjustment Scale.

RESULTS: The obtained results have suggested that 34.4% of the patients in the experimental group and 28.1% of the patients in the control group were female. Before the intervention, comparing the mean score of ostomy adjustment and its dimensions in the two groups showed no significant difference (P > 0.05). However, a significant difference was observed between the two groups immediately after the intervention (P < 0.05) and 1 month after the intervention, except for dimension of negative acceptance (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggested that using SMS can be considered as a proper tool or method for following up the ostomy patients.