Determinants of foot self-care practices among diabetic patients attending diabetic clinic at a referral hospital, Meru county - Kenya

Abstract

Foot self-care practices are regarded as fundamental in prevention of diabetic foot ulcers[2].Globally, it is estimated that the prevalent cases of persons living with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) were more than 500 million [17]. Patients with type 2 DM suffer diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), one of the DM complication most costly to treat and with huge impact on global health [3]. The purpose of the study was to assess the determinants of foot self-care practices among patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. This research was a descriptive cross sectional, conducted among 133 type 2 DM clients who were selected using systematic random sampling technique. Data was collected using an interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaire. Analysis of data was done using SPSS version 21. Socio-demographic characteristics such as age of the respondents (p=0.003), level of education (p=0.006 and monthly income (p=0.014) significantly influenced foot self-care practices. 51.2% of the respondents demonstrated low level foot self-care practice while48.8% demonstrated high level foot care practice. 61% were found to have low knowledge level while 39% had high level of knowledge on foot self-care. Low level of knowledge on foot care influenced the practice of foot self-care among the type 2 DM patients attending out-patient diabetic clinic at a referral hospital in Meru County. There was a significant association between knowledge and practice of foot self-care practice (p=<0.001). Those with high level of knowledge were 4.3 times more likely to have high level of foot self-care practice.