Knowledge and Practice of Diabetic Foot Care in Patients with Diabetes at Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to measure the level of knowledge and practice of diabetic foot self-care and determine the factors that affect the level and knowledge and practice of diabetic foot self-care among among patients with diabetes.. METHODOLOGY: Three hundred thirty adult patients with diabetes at the outpatient clinics were given self-administered questionnaires on knowledge and practice of diabetic foot self-care. The scores were computed based on their answers. A score of >70% was gauged as good, 50 to 70% as satisfactory and <50% as poor. RESULTS: Of the subjects, 82.7% had good foot care knowledge, 22.4% had good foot self-care practice, and 71% had satisfactory practice score. Patients who received diabetes education were twice as likely to have a good knowledge score (OR 2.41, 95% CI, 1.09 to 5.32; p=0.03). Compared to patients who received diabetes care in private clinics, those who attended the charity outpatient clinic were nearly three times as likely to have a good knowledge score (OR 2.8, 95% CI, 1.32 to 5.96; p=0.007). Patients with known diabetes for more than ten years and those with a family history of diabetes were 50% less likely to have good practice scores (OR 0.50, 95% CI, 0.28 to 0.90; p=0.021 and OR 0.49, 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.83; p=0.008, respectively). CONCLUSION: The current state of foot care knowledge in Filipino respondents with diabetes is good but the level of foot self-care practice is only satisfactory.