Knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding diabetic foot care among Saudi and non-Saudi diabetic patients in Alkharj

Abstract

Context: There is a high prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Saudi Arabia. Also, the diabetic foot complication rate is alarmingly high with many patients ending in amputation. Aims: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding diabetic foot care among Saudi and non-Saudi diabetic patients in Alkharj. Settings and Design: It is a cross-sectional study conducted from May 22nd, 2019 to April 1st, 2020 at Diabetic clinic, Military Hospital in Alkharj. Methods and Materials: Non-randomized, non-probability convenience sampling technique was used to collect data from 224 patients by using a validated and confidential questionnaire in either face-to-face interviews or as an electronic survey. All adult patients over 18 years of age of both sexes having type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus were included. The patients who were unable to provide the requested information were excluded. Statistical Analysis: The data were analyzed using SPSS version 24. Results: The mean age of patients was 49.37 years with 58.5% male and 41.5% female patients. About 58% of patients had diabetes for more than 10 years. More than half of the patients reported some foot problems, while 9.4% have had active or healed ulcerations. The mean scores for knowledge, attitude, and practice were 8.576, 4, and 13, respectively, all statistically significant. Conclusions: Our study population has sufficient knowledge about diabetes and its foot complication, and they also had a positive attitude towards its management. However, they were lagging in the practices required for diabetic foot management.

Keywords

• amputation
• diabetes mellitus
• diabetic foot
• foot ulceration