Challenges of Foot Care among Patients Attending Diabetic Clinic: A low Resource Country Experience

Background: Foot complications are a serious and costly complication of Diabetes Mellitus. With about one third of Tanzanian diabetic patients likely to require hospitalization due to limb complications, with its high mortality, which can be prevented or decreased by proper limb assessment? This study aimed at determining the practice of foot assessment of diabetic patients and factors hindering it at the diabetic clinic in a Rural Tanzanian hospital.
Methods: A hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in the diabetic clinic of Shinyanga regional hospital. A patient knowledge assessment tool was developed and used for exit survey, and a separate provider tool adopted from National Diabetic association of Australia was also used on the last day of the study.
Results: A total of 268 patients were interviewed of whom 45% had poor knowledge on footcare. Only one third of patients had their feet assessed in spite of good knowledge mean score of health workers as regards diabetic footcare. Work overload was cited as the hindrance factor.
Conclusion: Poor quality of diabetic care still exists even after efforts to establish special clinics. A chronic care model should be developed and disseminated to all HCWs offering care to diabetic patients