The Importance Of Patients Education And Diabetic Foot Care In Preventing Serious Complications In The Eastern Region Of Saudi Arabia, 2016

Abdulrahman Abdullah Al–Abdulgader; Ali Talal Al–Hashem; Ibrahim Taha Al–Fajri; Mohammad Abdulmajeed Al–Sowalih; Saad Sami Al–Muhanna; Tarek Benameur

Volume : V, Issue : VII, July - 2016

The Importance Of Patients Education And Diabetic Foot Care In Preventing Serious Complications In The Eastern Region Of Saudi Arabia, 2016

Abdulrahman Abdullah Al Abdulgader, Ali Talal Al Hashem, Ibrahim Taha Al Fajri, Mohammad Abdulmajeed Al Sowalih, Saad Sami Al Muhanna, Tarek Benameur

Abstract :

Introduction And Aim: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world. In 2014, it was estimated to be 9% among adults aged 18 years and older. It was directly causing more than 1.5 million people to die in 2012, according to WHO. In Saudi Arabia, 3.4 million cases were diagnosed with DM in 2015. DM has a lot of complications. The most common chronic complication is Diabetic Foot (DF). DF can be caused by nerve damage (neuropathy) or poor circulation and both of these types can lead to serious complications. Fortunately, most of these complications can be prevented with proper and careful foot care. Diabetic foot care means the daily inspection, cleaning, and thorough drying of the feet of a diabetic to prevent complications. However, Most of the diabetic patients do not know about proper footwear or therapeutic footwear. So the aim of this study is to measure the knowledge of diabetic patients about diabetic foot and the importance of foot care in the prevention of its complications in the eastern region of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Material And Methods: A descriptive cross–sectional study was designed based on validated anonymous self–administrated questioners. Simplified diabetic patients sampling with interview has been adopted to collect the data. Inclusion criteria: only a diabetes mellitus (DM) diagnosis, male and female and 18 years of age and more. Criteria for exclusion: non–diabetic patients, children, and patients who were unable to provide the requested information during data collection. Data were analyzed in a database created using Microsoft Office Excel 2010 spreadsheets, and later transferred to IBM SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 19 for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 128 patients were included in this study, 76 were males and 52 were females from the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. The mean age of the patients was 50.03 � 14.42 years. Since (P–value=0.042) which is less than (0.05), therefore, there is a significant relationship between the education level and the type of diabetes mellitus. Most of the respondents that we have collected had a university level of education, about (28.9%) of university level diabetic patients don‘t know their type of DM.. Only about 11.72% examined their feet when they visit health care providers. However, about the half (53.13%) never examined their feet when they visit their health care providers. About 18.75% did it only when they have a problem in their feet and 16.40% let the health care providers examine their feet once a year. Conclusion: Nearly the half of the respondents is not aware and not educated about these life–threatening complications of DF. There is an article explaining the basics of foot care practice in Saudi Arabia although they still need to educate diabetic patients further. Primary health care centers should improve their system by establishing a comprehensive quality assessment and educate the staff more to provide good foot care for their patients. Therefore, specialized training for healthcare providers to ensure regular foot examination and foot education for the patients must be a priority of any strategy to control DF from further complications.