Abstract
A questionnaire on how people perceive an “artificial anus” was completed by 250 men and 250 women,who were divided into groups according to age. More than 90％ of the people who responded to the questionnaire knew the term “artificial anus”. Half of them acquired their knowledge through the mass media. Less than 10％ of the people had precise medical knowledge of an “artificial anus”,and 60％ of these people thought that rectal cancer resulted in abdominal stoma or an “artificial anus”. The majority of the interviewes of this survey thought that ostomates have to avoid hard physical activities like swimming or riding on a bumpy road. Their image of an “artificial anus” was negative and they associated it with words like “trouble-some” or “tragedy”. Furthermore,there was no statistical correlation between the correct knowledge about “artificial anus” and a positive image. This study concludes that medical staff,such as doctors or nurses,should provide guidance and be informative with the patients concerning stoma surgery and postoperative lifestyle. This is because most patients are somewhat ignorant of stoma even though they know of people using the “artificial anus”.
