Untitled

Abstract

Background: Considerable advances have been made in the field of diabetic foot care over the past 25 years in developed countries. On the contrary, diabetes foot ulceration (DFU) still remains a common diabetes related complication of substantial public health importance in sub-Saharan Africa. Diabetic foot outcome in Nigeria is reportedly poor, with high amputation and mortality rates. Proper foot care education is known to impact positively on both DFU prevention and outcome in the developed societies. However, this relationship has not been well characterised in Nigeria. Objective: To determine the relationship between diabetic foot care education, health-seeking behaviour and DFU outcome. Methods: In this one-year observational Multi-Centre Evaluation of Diabetes Foot Ulcer in Nigeria (MEDFUN) study, subjects admitted for DFU in six tertiary hospitals were evaluated for demographic and diabetes related information, ulcer characteristics and treatment modality prior to hospitalisation. Prior participation in foot care education and knowledge of proper foot care were sought while relevant laboratory tests were performed. All patients benefitted from appropriate multidisciplinary care and were followed up until discharge or death. Outcome of interest were wound healing, lower extremity amputation (LEA) and mortality. Logistics regression was used to determine the impact of foot care education on DFU outcomes.