4 Results 4.1 Sample characteristic

4 Results 4.1 Sample characteristics As Table 1 shows, the mean age of the participants was 53.73 years (SD = 12.36, range 21-85), and the mean duration of stoma was 2.44 years (SD = 3.97, range 0.04-23.28). The most frequently reported stoma-related problems were exhaust noise (86.1%), stool leakage (70.3%), and diarrhoea (57.9%) (Table 2). 4.2 Stigma, coping self-efficacy, and self-esteem of stoma patients The mean scores of stigma, coping self-efficacy and self-esteem were 69.65 (SD = 13.18), 65.70 (SD = 29.08), 56.58 (SD = 21.88), respectively, all of which were in moderate level. However, approximately 44% (n = 92) of the patients reported high levels of stigma (Table 3). 4.3 Relationships among stigma, demographic and stoma-related characteristics, coping self-efficacy, and stoma self-esteem Table 1 and Table 2 showed the associations between demographic data and stoma-related information and stigma. The correlation analyses showed that both coping self-efficacy (r = -0.683, P < 0.001) and self-esteem (r = -0.487, P < 0.001) were negatively associated with stigma.