BACKGROUND: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) foot complications are a leading cause of mortality in developing countries and the prevalence of diabetes is expected to increase in the next decades in these countries. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and practice of foot care among diabetes patients attending three tertiary hospitals in Nigeria. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study carried out from November 2009 to April 2010. Pre-tested structured questionnaires were administered by medical officers to diabetes patients. The outcome variables were knowledge and practice regarding foot care. The knowledge and practice scores were classified as good if score ≥70%, satisfactory if score was 50-69% and poor if score was < 50%. RESULTS: Of 352 diabetes patients, 30.1% had good knowledge and 10.2 % had good practice of DM foot care. Majority (78.4%) of patients with poor practice had poor knowledge of foot care. With regard to knowledge, 68.8% were unaware of the first thing to do when they found redness/bleeding between their toes and 61.4% were unaware of the importance of inspecting the inside of the footwear for objects. Poor foot practices include; 89.2% not receiving advice when they bought footwear and 88.6% failing to get appropriate size footwear. Illiteracy and low socioeconomic status were significantly associated with poor knowledge and practice of foot care. CONCLUSION: This study has highlighted the gaps in the knowledge and practice of foot care in DM patients and underscores the need for an educational programme to reduce of diabetic foot complication.
BACKGROUND:Diabetes Mellitus (DM) foot complications are a leading cause of mortality in developing countries and the prevalence of diabetes is expected to increase in the next decades in these countries. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and practice of foot care among diabetespatients attending three tertiary hospitals in Nigeria. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study carried out from November 2009 to April 2010. Pre-tested structured questionnaires were administered by medical officers to diabetespatients. The outcome variables were knowledge and practice regarding foot care. The knowledge and practice scores were classified as good if score ≥70%, satisfactory if score was 50-69% and poor if score was < 50%. RESULTS: Of 352 diabetespatients, 30.1% had good knowledge and 10.2 % had good practice of DM foot care. Majority (78.4%) of patients with poor practice had poor knowledge of foot care. With regard to knowledge, 68.8% were unaware of the first thing to do when they found redness/bleeding between their toes and 61.4% were unaware of the importance of inspecting the inside of the footwear for objects. Poor foot practices include; 89.2% not receiving advice when they bought footwear and 88.6% failing to get appropriate size footwear. Illiteracy and low socioeconomic status were significantly associated with poor knowledge and practice of foot care. CONCLUSION: This study has highlighted the gaps in the knowledge and practice of foot care in DMpatients and underscores the need for an educational programme to reduce of diabetic foot complication.
Entities:
Keywords:
Diabetic Foot Care; Foot ulcer; Knowledge; Nigeria; Practice
Authors: R C Eastman; J C Javitt; W H Herman; E J Dasbach; C Copley-Merriman; W Maier; F Dong; D Manninen; A S Zbrozek; J Kotsanos; S A Garfield; M Harris Journal: Diabetes Care Date: 1997-05 Impact factor: 19.112
Authors: S Morbach; J K Lutale; V Viswanathan; J Möllenberg; H R Ochs; S Rajashekar; A Ramachandran; Z G Abbas Journal: Diabet Med Date: 2004-01 Impact factor: 4.359
Authors: Omna Shaki; Gayatri Karad Gupta; Sanjay K Rai; Tej Pratap Gupta; R Vijay Kumar; Vimal Upreti; Mukul Bajpai Journal: J Family Med Prim Care Date: 2022-05-14