The role of coping strategies on health-related quality of life in adults with anorectal malformations

Purpose: Coping strategies have been acknowledged as crucial for the well-being and for health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The main aim of the present study is to determine whether different types of coping strategies predict HRQoL in patients born with ARM, above and beyond the variance explained by fecal and urinary continence. Methods: 71 adult patients from the Italian Parents’ and Patients’ Organization for Anorectal Malformations (AIMAR) participated in the study. Participants completed measures of fecal and urinary continence of the Hirschsprung Disease/Anorectal Malformation Quality of Life (HAQL) (Hanneman et al. in Dis Col Rect 44:1650–1660, 2001), the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) (Apolone and Mosconi in J Clin Epidemiol 51:1025–1036, 1998), and the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) Inventory (Carver in Int J Behav Med 4:92–100, 1997), which measures different coping strategies: maladaptive, problem-focused and emotion-focused. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that fecal continence (β = 0.53, p < 0.01) and urinary continence significantly predict (β = 0.23, p < 0.05) Physical HRQoL. Fecal continence (β = 0.36, p < 0.01) and maladaptive coping strategies significantly predict (β = −0.27, p < 0.05) Mental HRQoL. Conclusion: Besides considering the importance of fecal and urinary continence for Physical HRQoL, these findings indicate that maladaptive coping strategies are associated with worse Mental HRQoL. Interventions aimed at enhancing the patients’ HRQoL should target coping strategies by reducing denial, behavioral disengagement, substance abuse, and self-blame