Effectiveness of the Specific Mobility Exercises on Pain Intensity and Quality of Life Among Stoma Patients: A Quasi-experimental Study

Background: An intestinal stoma is a surgically created artificial opening in the abdominal wall that helps the large or small intestine end to divert the faecal matter for stoma patients with an underlying condition of inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. When a stoma is formed following surgery, one of the difficulties stoma patients confront has been identified as prolonged immobilization, which can eventually result in muscle inactivity that results due to their illness. Patients with stoma often experience an increase in pain and a decrease in quality of life. Patients can be mobilized and their muscles can be activated with the help of an early intervention called specific mobility exercises. Aim: The present study aimed to explore the specific mobility exercises that reduce pain and improve quality of life among stoma patients. Methodology: This quasi-experimental study involved 21 patients who underwent stoma surgery and were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The experimental procedures were explained to all the patients and their written informed consent was obtained. The patients performed specific mobility exercises for 30 minutes per day. Treatment was given for four weeks every day after three to four days of stoma surgery. The patient's pain and quality of life were assessed using the Numerical Pain Rating Scale and the Stoma-Quality of Life (QoL) Questionnaire and pre-test and post-test values were recorded before and after the exercises. The data were tabulated and evaluated. Results: The findings suggest that specific mobility exercises following four weeks of intervention have a significant effect (p < 0.001) in reducing pain except in young adult stoma patients as they were found to be anxious and depressed, which was reflected in the findings as not statistically significant for pain on the NPRS (t(1) = 7, p > 0.001). However, it has been demonstrated that these specific mobility exercises have a significant effect (p < 0.001) in improving the quality of life among all stoma patients. Conclusion: The study evidenced that four weeks of specific mobility exercises in line with general medical treatment showed a significant reduction in pain and an improvement in quality of life among stoma patients. However, it should be noted that in the study, the majority of stoma patients were male and there were only a few patients with inflammatory bowel disease, which can limit the study findings. Future studies have to focus on equally distributing gender and conditions by emphasizing the importance of randomizing patients into the experimental and control groups and involving a combination of other exercises in rehabilitation for patients following stoma surgery.