Validities and Reliabilities of Screening for Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) among Diabetes Mellitus Patients with and without DFU

Abstract

Background: Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) is common problem in Diabetes Mellitus (DM) patients in which early detection of DFU is very important. The screening tool for DFU had been developed by researcher previously in 2016.
 Purpose: This study aimed to test validities and reliabilities of the tool.
 Methods: The method in this study which included content validity by 4 experts, construct validity with 180 patients, internal consistency in 60 patients and intra-rater reliability.
 Results: The results showed that: 1) content validity was acceptable, I-CVI was 1.00 and S-CVI was 1.00; 2) internal consistency used Kuder-Richardson (KR – 20) was 0.806; 3) Intra-rater reliability used Intra-class Coefficient Correlation (ICC) for total score was 0.996 and Kappa 1.00 for duration of DM, history of ulceration, history of claudication, neuropathy sensory, abnormal skin, foot care, Kappa 0.93 for foot deformities, Kappa 0.92 for history of amputation, and Kappa 0.89 for peripheral vascular disease; and 4) constructed group approach revealed that 8 items (duration of DM, history of ulceration, history of amputation, history of claudication, neuropathy sensory, peripheral vascular disease, abnormal skin, and foot deformities) showed statistical significance ( P= < 0.000 – P =0.025), only one item which is foot care showed no significance (P= 0.161).
 Conclusion: The screening tool for DFU among diabetic patients has good validities and reliabilities. Nurses who work with DM patients can use the tool to detect risk for DFU to prevent DFU and provide early intervention tailored with risk factors. Further study should examine predictive validity of the tool and develop appropriate foot care assessment tool.