Donaldson Gordon, Hendry Gordon, Barn Ruth
Department of Podiatry and Radiography, School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK.
J Foot Ankle Res. 2025 Jun;18(2):e70045. doi: 10.1002/jfa2.70045.
The term 'in-remission' has been historically associated with the disease status in cancer. In diabetes foot care, the term was introduced into risk stratification systems in order to support patient communication and healthcare prevention strategies post-ulceration. However, despite the inclusion of an 'in-remission' category into risk stratification systems, the adoption and perception of the terminology in clinical practice remains unknown. The aim of this study is to explore patient and clinician perceptions of the term 'in-remission' in the context of diabetes foot disease management.
Semi-structured focus groups or interviews were conducted to identify the perceptions and impact of the term 'in-remission' on end users. Participants included patients classified as 'in-remission' as well as podiatrists who routinely work with people who have diabetes. Recruitment occurred via social media adverts, posters and snowball sampling. All focus groups and interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed for themes.
The study included n = 9 people with diabetes classified as in-remission and n = 12 podiatrists. One online focus group was held with n = 5 podiatrists, whereas individual telephone interviews were conducted with the remaining n = 7 podiatrists and all n = 9 participants with diabetes. Three overarching themes were identified with several sub-themes in each group. Perceptions and implementation of the term 'in-remission' were highly variable whereby podiatrists tend to avoid using the term directly with patients and instead focus on patient education and held mixed views of the impact on patients. People with diabetes were largely unaware of their 'in-remission' status and had varied opinions on what 'in-remission' means and how it may impact on foot care.
Awareness and implementation of the term 'in-remission' into podiatry practice are inconsistent. Despite the intention of the term to increase patient awareness and access to services, themes were identified regarding applicability and suitability resulting in avoidance by clinicians and confusion and fear from people with diabetes. These findings suggest that the term is not having the intended effect and further work is required to more fully explore the adoption of this terminology.
“病情缓解”一词在历史上一直与癌症的疾病状态相关。在糖尿病足护理中，该术语被引入风险分层系统，以支持溃疡后患者沟通和医疗预防策略。然而，尽管风险分层系统中纳入了“病情缓解”类别，但该术语在临床实践中的采用情况和认知度仍然未知。本研究的目的是探讨患者和临床医生在糖尿病足疾病管理背景下对“病情缓解”一词的认知。
进行半结构化焦点小组或访谈，以确定“病情缓解”一词对最终用户的认知和影响。参与者包括被归类为“病情缓解”的患者以及经常与糖尿病患者打交道的足病医生。通过社交媒体广告、海报和滚雪球抽样进行招募。所有焦点小组和访谈均进行录音并逐字转录。对数据进行主题分析。
该研究纳入了n = 9名被归类为病情缓解的糖尿病患者和n = 12名足病医生。与n = 5名足病医生进行了一次在线焦点小组讨论，而其余n = 7名足病医生和所有n = 9名糖尿病患者参与者则进行了个人电话访谈。确定了三个总体主题，每个主题下还有几个子主题。“病情缓解”一词的认知和实施差异很大，足病医生倾向于避免直接与患者使用该术语，而是专注于患者教育，并且对其对患者的影响持有不同观点。糖尿病患者大多不知道自己的“病情缓解”状态，对“病情缓解”的含义以及它可能如何影响足部护理有不同看法。
“病情缓解”一词在足病学实践中的认知和实施不一致。尽管该术语旨在提高患者意识和获得服务的机会，但确定了有关适用性和适宜性的主题，导致临床医生避免使用该术语，糖尿病患者感到困惑和恐惧。这些发现表明该术语没有达到预期效果，需要进一步开展工作以更全面地探索该术语的采用情况。
