Publication:

Assessment of awareness and practice of foot care and physical activity among people with type 2 diabetes attending a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background Diabetes Mellitus is one of the leading non communicable diseases in India. Associated complications are also on rise. Knowing about self-care becomes important to prevent these complications in them. This study was done to determine the level of awareness and practice of foot care among type 2 diabetes patients attending a tertiary care center.

Methods A cross sectional descriptive study done by interviewing 106 diabetic patients attending a teaching hospital in Kolar, using pretested questionnaire.

Results In the present study the mean (SD) of awareness and practice of foot care were 5.33 (3.09) and 6.54 (2.94) respectively. Low mean scores were significantly associated (p<0.05) with lack of formal education and not receiving advice on foot care by doctors. Only 51.9% of them were educated regarding foot care while 77% of the subjects were advised to do physical activity. Only 8.5% of them had good knowledge, 35.8% had satisfactory level and more than 50% of them had poor or very poor knowledge regarding foot care. On the other hand about 15.1% of the study participants’ foot care practice was good, 36.8% were satisfactory and 48.1% were poor or very poor in foot care practice. A strong positive correlation (r=0.85) was observed between level of awareness and practice of foot care which was statistically significant (p<0.001).

Conclusions Low mean scores of awareness and practice suggests that there is a need for focused educational intervention on foot care to all diabetic patients in order to prevent foot complications in them.