Footwear Appropriateness, Preferences and Foot Ulcer Risk Among Adult Diabetics at Makati Medical Center Outpatient Department

Abstract

*Visual Abstracts prepared by Dr. Jerico Gutierrez Objective. To determine general and clinical characteristics associated with the use of inappropriate footwear among Filipino patients with diabetes. Methodology. Adult patients with diabetes were recruited. Comprehensive foot examination was done checking on foot deformities, neuropathies and peripheral arterial disease. Footwear was then examined as to length and width. Appropriateness of footwear to patient’s foot was measured using International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF) criteria. Results. We classified 170 adults with diabetes based on foot ulcer risk classification of IWGDF. In this population, 62% of respondents were at risk for foot ulcer. Flipflops are the primary choice of footwear among 82% and 47% of the respondents for indoor and outdoor footwear respectively. Inappropriate footwear was see in 91% of the patients. Binary logistic regression showed insufficient evidence to determine an association between the use of inappropriate footwear and patient sex, educational attainment, foot care evaluation and examination. Foot ulcer risk classification showed a trend for higher group levels to wear inappropriate footwear. Conclusion. Flipflops and sandals are the primary preferences of the participants. Majority (91%) of the participants wear inappropriate footwear. This finding were due to multifactorial causes: preference, climate, economic reasons, and foot ulcer risk category. Educational attainment and foot care education did not improve the statistics of footwear appropriateness.

Keywords

• footwear
• diabetes mellitus
• foot ulcer