Awareness of foot care among patients with diabetes attending a tertiary care hospital.

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.