Systematic review with meta-analysis: Current and emerging models of preoperative psychological preparation for individuals undergoing stoma surgery

Objective: Stoma surgery is a profoundly life changing event that can result in a range of negative psychological and mental health outcomes, often requiring significant postoperative adaption. While postoperative avenues of support to address these outcomes exist, there remains a lack of preoperative psychological preparation for surgical candidates in standard models of care. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aims to examine the current and emerging models of psychological preparation available to stoma surgery candidates during the preoperative period. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Emcare, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and SCOPUS was conducted. All studies examining the effects of preoperative psychological interventions targeting postoperative psychological adjustment and/or mental health outcomes for individuals planning to undergo or who had undergone stoma surgery were included. Results: Overall, 15 publications meeting inclusion criteria were identified, encompassing 1565 total participants. Intervention types ranged from psychoeducational, counselling, and practical based skills, examining the postoperative outcomes of anxiety, depression, quality of life, adjustment, self-efficacy, and systematic improvements to standard models of care. Five studies examining postoperative anxiety were included for meta-analysis, demonstrating an overall significant effect (SMD = −1.13, 95% CI -1.96 to −0.30, p =.008). Due to the high level of heterogeneity between remaining studies, articles examining postoperative outcomes other than anxiety were synthesised in narrative form. Conclusion: Despite some promising advancements in the field, there remains insufficient evidence to judge the overall effectiveness of current and emerging models of preoperative psychological preparation on postoperative psychological outcomes for individuals facing stoma surgery.