Awareness of foot care among patients with diabetes attending a tertiary care hospital.
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Date
2015-05
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Abstract
Background. The prevalence of diabetes in India is rising.
It is also occurring at a younger age. Ulcers on the foot in
patients with diabetes are a common cause of amputations and
are largely preventable. We assessed the awareness of foot care
among patients with diabetes attending a tertiary care hospital
in northern India and whether this varied with the level of
healthcare availed, i.e. primary, secondary or tertiary.
Methods. A scored questionnaire was designed based on
foot care practices advised by the American Diabetes Association
as part of the national diabetes education programme. It was
administered to 400 patients and a total foot care score was
calculated and correlated with various variables.
Results. Only 50 of 400 patients (12.5%) had received
previous foot care advice from healthcare professionals, and
193 (48.2%), 28 (7%) and 179 (44.8 %) patients were
being taken care of by primary, secondary and tertiary
healthcare systems, respectively. Almost one-quarter of patients
were uneducated. The mean foot care score in all three groups
was 5 of a maximum of 14, which was poor.
Conclusion. The awareness of foot care among people
with diabetes is low among those attending all levels of
healthcare: primary, secondary and tertiary. It is necessary to
educate people about foot care, lack of which will lead to a
huge financial and health burden due to preventable
complications of diabetes.
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Citation
Kishore Shyam, Upadhyay Ashish Datt, Jyotsna V.P. Awareness of foot care among patients with diabetes attending a tertiary care hospital. National Medical Journal of India. 2015 May-Jun; 28(3): 122-125.