Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Footcare in Diabetic patients in Hammoud University Medical Center

Abstract

Abstract Introduction and literature: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic heterogeneous disease that requires long-term management and is accompanied by several complications. Diabetic foot is one of the important complications encountered by diabetes. it arises to multiple vascular and neurological complications that diabetes results in. Patients need to be advised and follow the physicians' instructions to maintain the best outcomes. our study aims to tackle the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of diabetics regarding diabetic foot care at Hamoud Unversity Medical Center. Methods: a total of 108 patients in Hamoud University Medical Center were questioned after obtaining the hospital IRB approval. Results were entered and analyzed by Spss v23. quantitative data were analyzed as means and qualitative as frequencies and percentages. The scores were calculated into means, ANOVA, and t-tests were used to find correlations between scores and factors with significant p-values <0.05. Results: The study included 108 participants of mean age was 60.14 ±15.3. The majority of participants are males 64.8% ( n=70), and 34.3% (n=37) are of university level. out of diabetic complications, most are hypertensive. Patients were found to have good knowledge responses, some were with positive attitudes, and all were with bad practices. As for correlations, no statistically significant result was found in the knowledge section. Several factors were found with a positive relation in the attitude section as level of education and type of occupation. Lastly, also positive correlations were found in practices between several factors as duration of diabetes, occupation, and marital status with p-values <0.05. Conclusion: The study concludes that there is much more to learn and educate. Participants are aware of the dangers but do not follow proper health care services to prevent complications. Overall, the integration of both data sets reveals a multifaceted perspective among respondents, emphasizing the importance of tailored education, support, and interventions to promote adherence to foot care routines and optimize diabetes management outcomes.