Publication:

Awareness and practice regarding foot self-care among patients of known type 2 diabetes mellitus in a rural area

Background Diabetic foot problems accounts for about nearly 50% of diabetes related hospital admission.  About 49-85% of all diabetic foot related problems are preventable if appropriate measures are taken. The objective of the study was to assess the awareness and practice towards foot self - care among patients of known type 2 diabetes mellitus in a rural area.

Methods The present study was conducted among patients with type 2 diabetes, attending Non-communicable disease (NCD) clinic, Rural Health Training Centre (RHTC), Sri Ramachandra University (SRU), Tamil Nadu, India. 31 participants gave written consent for their participation and they were interviewed using a questionnaire. Data entry and analysis was done using statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 16 version software.

Results Mean age of participant was 54.5years. Regarding awareness, 64.5% were unaware that they need to give special attention to foot care, 77.4% were unaware that smoking causes poor circulation affecting the feet. Poor foot practices are; 67.7% do not check inside of footwear for objects before putting them on and 74.2% walk barefoot and 54.8% did not cut their toenails properly.

Conclusions Foot self-care awareness and practices among patients with diabetes were found to be poor. This implies an urgent need for health educating the patients which may prevent disability and reduce medical expenditure in long run.