Desalu O O, Salawu F K, Jimoh A K, Adekoya A O, Busari O A, Olokoba A B
Department of Medicine, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Ilorin, Nigeria.
Ghana Med J. 2011 Jun;45(2):60-5. doi: 10.4314/gmj.v45i2.68930.
Diabetes Mellitus (DM) foot complications are a leading cause of mortality in developing countries and the prevalence of diabetes is expected to increase in the next decades in these countries. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and practice of foot care among diabetes patients attending three tertiary hospitals in Nigeria.
This is a cross-sectional study carried out from November 2009 to April 2010. Pre-tested structured questionnaires were administered by medical officers to diabetes patients. The outcome variables were knowledge and practice regarding foot care. The knowledge and practice scores were classified as good if score ≥70%, satisfactory if score was 50-69% and poor if score was < 50%.
Of 352 diabetes patients, 30.1% had good knowledge and 10.2 % had good practice of DM foot care. Majority (78.4%) of patients with poor practice had poor knowledge of foot care. With regard to knowledge, 68.8% were unaware of the first thing to do when they found redness/bleeding between their toes and 61.4% were unaware of the importance of inspecting the inside of the footwear for objects. Poor foot practices include; 89.2% not receiving advice when they bought footwear and 88.6% failing to get appropriate size footwear. Illiteracy and low socioeconomic status were significantly associated with poor knowledge and practice of foot care.
This study has highlighted the gaps in the knowledge and practice of foot care in DM patients and underscores the need for an educational programme to reduce of diabetic foot complication.
糖尿病足并发症是发展中国家主要的死亡原因，预计在未来几十年这些国家的糖尿病患病率将会上升。本研究的目的是确定在尼日利亚三家三级医院就诊的糖尿病患者足部护理的知识和实践情况。
这是一项于2009年11月至2010年4月开展的横断面研究。由医务人员向糖尿病患者发放经过预测试的结构化问卷。结果变量是关于足部护理的知识和实践。知识和实践得分≥70%为良好，得分在50 - 69%为满意，得分<50%为差。
在352名糖尿病患者中，30.1%具备良好的知识，10.2%具备良好的糖尿病足护理实践。实践较差的患者中，大多数（78.4%）足部护理知识也较差。在知识方面，68.8%的患者不知道当他们发现脚趾间发红/出血时首先要做什么，61.4%的患者不知道检查鞋内是否有异物的重要性。不良的足部护理实践包括：89.2%的患者在购买鞋子时未接受建议，88.6%的患者未能买到合适尺码的鞋子。文盲和低社会经济地位与足部护理知识和实践较差显著相关。
本研究突出了糖尿病患者足部护理知识和实践方面的差距，并强调需要开展一项教育计划以减少糖尿病足并发症。
