Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers Based on an Interdisciplinary Team Approach

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate patients’ perception and quality of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) care delivered by an interdisciplinary team approach (ITA). DESIGN: Exploratory cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: Twenty patients with a healed plantar DFU were recruited from an interdisciplinary Wound Care clinic of a Canadian University affiliated hospital. Their mean age was 64 years (75% were males [n = 15]), 18 (90%) were living with type 2 diabetes, and 45% (n = 9) had osteomyelitis in the previous year of their enrollment in the study. METHODS: The validated short form of the Quality From the Patient’s Perspective questionnaire was used to evaluate quality of care dimensions (medical-technical competence of the caregivers; physical-technical conditions of the care organization; degree of identity-orientation in the attitudes and actions of the caregivers; and sociocultural atmosphere of the care organization). RESULTS: Respondents reported experiencing a high level of quality care with an ITA. All indicators of patient-perceived reality of care delivered were superior or equal related to their subjective importance in all dimensions of quality care (with scores ranging from 3.85 to 4.00 on a 4-Point Likert scale). Patients’ satisfaction regarding the ITA was high. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings suggest that an ITA model provided high quality of care for treating DFUs for all quality dimensions judged important for patients.