Knowledge, Practice, and Barriers of Foot Care among Diabetic Patients Attending Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic debilitating condition characterized by an increased blood glucose level and is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and increasing health care cost. Diabetic foot ulcers and lower extremity amputations are a common, complex, costly, and disabling complication of diabetes. An estimated 15% of patients with diabetes develop a lower extremity ulcer. Objective. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge, practice, and barriers of diabetic foot self-care among diabetic patients attending Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital. Method. Institution based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 313 diabetic patients using convenient sampling technique. Furthermore, descriptive statistics and binary and multivariate logistic regression were employed to assess the predicators of knowledge and practice of diabetic foot care. Result. Majority of respondents were males (64.9%). The mean age was 39.1 ± 16. The mean knowledge score was 7.5 ± 2.02 of which 56.2% and 43.8% had good and poor knowledge of foot care, respectively. The mean practice score was 25.2 ± 6.466 of which 53.0% had good and the remaining 47.0% had poor foot care practice. Of 162 respondents having barriers, 56.8% reported "poor communication between patients and health care providers, " 50.6% cited "I did not know what to do, " and 44.4% responded "inconveniency for work" as barriers of foot care. Conclusion and Recommendation. Knowledge and practice of foot care of diabetic patients are still substandard. Poor communication between patients and nurses/physicians, lack of adequate knowledge, and inconveniency for work were commonly cited barriers of foot care. Policy makers should initiate interventional foot care education program throughout the regional state. The study hospital should consider establishing a specialized diabetic clinic in which foot care education can easily be integrated into follow-up care.

Knowledge and practice of foot care among the patients of diabetic foot: a hospital based cross-sectional study

“…Seid et al, in his study, observed that 41.2% patients checked their legs every day and 60% pat dry their legs after washing. 20 In present study, 85% participants did not walk bare foot, which is comparable with observation made by Dikeukwu RA et al that 82% respondents did not walk bare foot. 22 Similarly, Lutfi ARM et al, also mentioned in his study that 77.1 % patients did not walk bare foot.…”

“…As per the observation done by Seid A et al in his study, 95.8% of the respondents were aware about the frequency of washing their feet. 20 In present study, only 33% respondents knew that the temperature of water should be checked before using it. Similar findings were observed by AR Muhammad Lutfi et al in their study in which 31 % respondents knew about this.…”

“…Their knowledge and current practice for foot care were classified as good, satisfactory and poor depending upon the score obtained. For the knowledge, if the score was ≥70% (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), it was regarded as good, score of 50-69% (13-10) was regarded as satisfactory and that less than 50% (<10) was regarded as poor. For the practice, if score was ≥70% (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), it was regarded as good, score of 50-69% (9-7) was regarded as satisfactory and anything less than 50% (<7) was regarded as poor.…”

Foot Care Knowledge and Practice among Diabetic Patients Attending General Outpatient Clinic in Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital

“…Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a full thickness wound penetrating through the dermis located below the ankle in a diabetes which can become infected it is untreated [6]. Foot ulcer is one the major complications diabetes patients have which can be prevented with good care of feet.…”

“…All patients, if given proper guidance and education regarding foot care, should be able to make significant improvements in their foot care [15]. It has been estimated that up to 50% of the major amputations in diabetic patients can be prevented with effective education [6].…”