Authors (including presenting author) :
Cheung SM, Lam YH, Lau YFE, Huang HY, Ho SY, Au KYS, Lo BYE, Lam YFD, Chan KK
Affiliation :
Diabetes Ambulatory Center, Department of Medicine, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
Introduction :
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common cause of non-traumatic amputation in developed countries. According to International Diabetes Federation 2019, the annual incidence of foot ulceration is approximately 2% and lower limb amputation is approximately 1% in people with diabetes. Knowledge deficit affects foot care practices that contributes to foot ulcers development. Empowerment by enhancing knowledge was therefore the first step to improve foot care behavior for preventing foot complications. In current setting, comprehensive foot assessment is conducted regularly at Metabolic Risk Assessment (MRA) session. Diabetes nurses play important roles for screenings, education and making appropriate specialty referrals to podiatrist, P&O, vascular nurse or Orthopedic for treatment of existing conditions. How-ever, there is no structured foot care empowerment program. As prevention is better than cure, to set up an empowerment program for foot care is required.
Objectives :
(1) To enhance foot care knowledge (2) To empower the establishment of daily foot care habit
Methodology :
This is an ongoing program with pre- and post-test design. Recruitment has been started since May 2019. Type 2 DM patients aged ≥18 year-old and had foot problem(s), or had intention to learn, were recruited during MRA. They would attend foot care class for acquiring basic foot care knowledge and skills. Telephone follow-up (FU) at 3-month period was conducted for reassessment and reinforcement. Foot care knowledge was assessed before, just after and 3-month after the class by using a questionnaire with 9 true or false questions. Behavioral change and satisfactory level about the class were also assessed.
Result & Outcome :
There were 72 eligible patients recruited from August 2019 to February 2021, with average age 65.47±8.07 years old and average duration of diabetes 10.31±8.28 years. 54 were males and 18 were females. Their score of foot care knowledge before and just after the class was significantly improved from 5.32±1.48 to 8.28±1.05 (p< 0.001). 60 of them completed telephone FU at 3-month and their score still had significant improvement to 7.13±1.42(p< 0.001). The results suggested that foot care education could significantly help to enhance and sustain foot care knowledge in people with diabetes, which laid the foundation for reducing foot complications and amputation.
