Diabetic Foot Complications and Associated Factors among Diabetic Patients Who Attended Noncommunicable Disease Clinics in the Kollam District of South India-A Quality Improvement Project

Author(s):

Subodh S Satheesh* and Subash Philip

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus has become a common metabolic disorder and a fast growing public health concern over the years. Among the diabetic complications, foot disorders lead to lower extremity infections and tissue breakdown, resulting in signi icant health and socioeconomic burden on the patients. When it comes to diabetic foot amputations performed in India 75% of them are done in neuropathic feet with a secondary infection that can be prevented. Objective: To assess the prevalence of Diabetic Foot Syndrome (DFS) and the associated risk factors among people with diabetes mellitus. Methodology: A healthy facility based cross-sectional study was conducted in randomly selected CHCs and PHCs of the Kollam district, India between the periods from March to August 2019. The sample size was 851 and was purposively selected. Data were collected using a structured interview schedule and screened for DFS using a micro ilament test. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 25. The analysis included descriptive analysis with frequency distribution calculated as necessary. Result: In mono ilament testing, 30.6% of participants screened positive for diabetic foot syndrome. The average duration of disease was 14.2 (SD 8.2) and (86.3%) of them reported having a family history of DM. Among the participants 69.1% detected with diabetic foot ulcers had 10+ years of diabetes mellitus. In our study, it was observed that 9.2% of patients had good knowledge of foot care practices and only 30% of diabetic foot ulcer patients do regular foot screening. Conclusion: The study stressed the signi icance of using screening tools and techniques for early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of foot ulcers and educating them about the need for foot care and lifestyle modi ications.