Prevalence of diabetic comorbidities and knowledge and practices of foot care among diabetic patients: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundDiabetes mellitus with comorbid complications constitute a major public health problem worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of comorbid complications with glycosylated hemoglobin levels and diabetes duration. Also assessed were patients’ diabetic foot-care knowledge and practices.Patients and methodsThis was a quasiexperimental study. A total of 360 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients were interviewed at a government health care center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Diabetic complications and HbA1c-level data were collected from hospital records. A standard questionnaire was used to assess their diabetic foot-care knowledge and practice.ResultsOf the type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, 32.5% had highly uncontrolled glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels (≥8.6%) and 62.8% had had diabetes >10 years. The patients had comorbid complications, such as hypertension (61.4%), dyslipidemia (58.6%), retinopathy (23.3%), heart disease (14.4%), and severe foot complications (3.9%). The majority of highly uncontrolled HbA1c-level patients had retinopathy (OR 8.90, P=0.0001), foot complications (OR 8.09, P=0.0001), dyslipidemia (OR 2.81, P=0.010), and hypertension (OR 2.0, P=0.028) compared to the controlled HbA1c-level (<7%) group. Patients with diabetes >10 years also had higher prevalence of foot complications (OR 2.92, P=0.0001), retinopathy (OR 2.17, P=0.011), and hypertension (OR 1.67, P=0.033). From patient responses, physicians examined only 34.2% of patient feet and 36.7% of patients received physicians advice for foot care. About 70% of patients had knowledge of diabetic foot care; however, only 41.7% of patients always examined their feet, 41.4% washed feet with warm water, 31.4% carefully dried between the toes, and 33.1% were using foot-moisturizing substances.ConclusionThe prevalence of comorbid complications was higher in the Saudi population compared to other international studies. Also, foot-care practice was not satisfactory. Therefore, there is need of improvement and increased awareness among physicians and patients to check regularly for proper care of the diabetic foot to avoid diabetic foot-related complications.

<p>Association of Dyslipidemia and Comorbidities with Risk Factors Among Diabetic Patients: A Retrospective Analysis</p>

“…This mechanism leads to various derangements in the lipid metabolism resulting in various dyslipidemias. 19 In our present study, 20,21 As per the general age group involved in T2DM, almost all our patients (95.4%) were 40 plus, with nearly 61% in 50-69-years of age group. In our study, for diabetic patients, the odds of having comorbidities are 7.33 and 20.14 times higher in the age group 60-69 years and 70-79 years, respectively, as the odds for age less than 40 years having comorbidities.…”

Self-Care Activities among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Morocco: Prevalence and Determinants

“…During such contacts with the healthcare system and providers, participants may have received advice or further information about foot-care: exposure to previous education in other settings has been shown to be associated with frequency of foot care practices [25] [26]. In multivariate analysis, female participants tended to report lower frequency of good foot-care practice, contrary to that noted in other settings [26] [27].…”

Self-Care Practice and Associated Factors Among People Living with Type 2 Diabetes in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Facility-Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…A face to face interview was administered by trained nurses by using a structured questionnaire which was adopted from the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) diabetes self-care scale 10 and diabetes knowledge questionnaire (DKQ). 11 The tools are valid, reliable and have been previously used in different studies done in Ethiopia. 7,8 The questionnaire has seven parts: socio-demographic characteristics, health status data, diabetes knowledge, health education, social support, diabetes self-care activities and medication adherence.…”

“…7,8,14,15 Adequate knowledge of diabetes was defined as participants with correct answer to knowledgerelated questions and scored above or equal to 50%. 11 Optimal glycemic control was considered when the fasting blood sugar (FBS) was between 70-126mg/dL. 9…”