Knowledge, attitude, and practice of diabetic patients regarding foot care: Experience from a single tertiary care outpatient clinic.

BACKGROUND

Foot complications are a common problem among the diabetic population globally. Proper preventive education by health care providers should be provided to the diabetic population. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of diabetic patients regarding foot care.

METHODS

This study was carried out in the medicine outdoor patient department of Allied Hospital, Faisalabad. A total sample of 150 diabetic patients was taken. Sampling was done through a non-probability convenient sampling technique. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.

RESULTS

The mean age of the respondents was 52.49 ± 11.87 years. Most of the patients had moderate knowledge and also practiced a moderate level of foot care. 32.7% of the patients had good knowledge, 51.3% had moderate knowledge, and 16.0% had poor knowledge regarding foot care. 63.3% of the patients had moderate practice; 24.5%, poor practice; and 12.2%, good practice. Patients belonging to urban areas scored better on both knowledge and practice scales. A significant statistical association of education with knowledge (P = 0.012) and practice (P = 0.008) regarding foot care was found. The patients compliant with drug therapy also observed better foot care practices.

CONCLUSION

Education had a significant role in positively influencing the behavior of the patients. There was found a gap between knowledge and practice level of patients. Hence patients should be actively engaged in their health care plan with more emphasis on changing their behavior.