Enhancing Foot Care Practices in Patients With Diabetes

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Table of Contents

Title
Abstract
Methods
Results
Discussion
Reference

Title

The title of the article is Draft Program of Prevention of Diabetic Foot Development and Lower Extremity Amputation in Persons with Diabetes Mellitus (Poljicanin, Pavlic-Renar, Metelko, & Coce, 2005, p. 43). The title is very descriptive, appropriate, and accurate because it effectively summarizes the content of the research article. The content of the article describes how comprehensive education of patients on management of diabetes mellitus and foot care practices are central in the prevention of diabetic foot and amputation of lower limbs.

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to enhance foot care practices in patients with diabetes mellitus over a period of five years to reduce incidences of lower limb amputations by 50%. Prior studies have confirmed that diabetic patients are 20 times more susceptible to diabetic foot than the general population because high glucose levels in diabetic patients damage the blood vessels and nerves of the feet causing poor circulation of blood and insensitivity respectively. This damage leads to the development of diabetic foot and the subsequent amputation of lower limbs. Hence, the study aims at enhancing foot care practices and management of diabetes mellitus to reduce increasing cases of diabetic foot and amputation of lower limbs among the population.

The article presented the major results as it showed that proper management of diabetes mellitus and effective foot care practices significantly reduce the development of diabetic foot in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Comprehensive education of patients with diabetes mellitus on the essence of managing diabetes mellitus and foot care practice is critical in the prevention of diabetic foot and amputation of lower limbs.

Methods

The study population is patients with diabetes mellitus and diabetic foot who attend hospital regularly.

The study does not effectively represent other populations because it entails the study of a small sample of the population derived from one clinical center, yet there are many patients out there suffering from diabetes mellitus and diabetic foot.

There is no flowchart of recruiting subjects and there is no need for one since the population of the study is too small for random selection, hence the study employed the chance method of sampling. The chance method was appropriate in recruiting subjects since the study sought to educate all patients in health institutions without any discrimination.

There is no information on both inclusion and exclusion criteria as the study dealt with a small number of diabetic patients who attended the clinic.

The research type is qualitative as it entailed continuous monitoring of glucose levels in the blood to determine whether the trend of managing diabetes mellitus through comprehensive education was positive or negative. Moreover, the study also involved regular screening of diabetic foot to monitor its occurrence in response to foot care.

The research is descriptive for it describes how diabetic patients can effectively take care of their feet and prevent the development of diabetic feet and amputation of lower limbs.

Patients with diabetic feet acted as a control group to ascertain if there was significant prevention or slowed the development of diabetic foot in patients with diabetes mellitus after comprehensive education on foot care.

There is no blinding used because the study assumed that there are no confounding variables that may necessitate blinding of subjects or researchers. Thus, both the researchers and subjects knew the objective of the research and the roles they played in the study.

The study employed correlation statistics to analyze data and determine whether there was significant prevention or slowed the development of diabetic foot in diabetic patients. The study sought to establish if comprehensive education of patients on management of diabetes mellitus and foot care practices negatively correlates with the development of the diabetic foot.

The research design is designed appropriately because the duration of five years is suitable to enhance the eternal validity of findings and in minimizing the effects of extraneous variables. Moreover, a random selection of patients using the chance method was appropriate in enhancing both the internal and external validity of the study.

Correlation statistics used in the analysis of the data were appropriate because the study sought to establish if comprehensive education significantly prevented or slowed down the development of diabetic foot at the end of the five-year period. Hence, the correlation was appropriate in establishing a relationship between comprehensive education program and development of the diabetic foot.

Results

The study presented results clearly through description, making it easy to interpret that comprehensive education of people with diabetes mellitus and diabetic foot is very effective in preventing amputation of lower limbs. The results explicitly show how patients with diabetes mellitus and diabetic foot can manage their diabetic condition and prevent amputation of lower limbs.

The research article did not clearly outline the results using tables and figures, which made it difficult to understand them without reading the description first. To enhance clarity and understanding, the study should have presented the results using tables and figures, for such communicate results more effectively to the readers. However, the description of the results is very clear and easy to understand.

The major results showed that comprehensive education of patients with diabetes mellitus on foot care practices could significantly reduce the development of diabetic foot and amputation of lower limbs in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Discussion

The authors discussed that since incidences of diabetes mellitus and diabetic foot are gradually increasing across the world, the research findings are very important since they proved that comprehensive education on diabetes and foot care is critical in the prevention of diabetic foot and subsequent amputation of lower limbs. In addition, the authors recommend simple preventive measures such as a healthy diet, regular physical exercise, and foot care play a significant role in preventing the development of the diabetic foot, thus the healthcare system needs to carry out comprehensive education of diabetic patients.

The data showed that there was a significant reduction in the incidences of diabetic foot during the five-year period hence supporting the conclusion that comprehensive education of diabetic patients is an effective preventive measure of diabetic foot. The data revealed that comprehensive education negatively correlates with the development of diabetic feet among diabetic patients.

The limitation of the study is that it only dealt with diabetic patients who attend a certain clinical center making it have a negligible sample of the population that does not effectively represent an entire population of diabetic patients who attend various healthcare institutions. In this view, the study was biased in selection of subjects because maybe, diabetic patients from a given social and economic class attended the clinical center to obtain the medical services they could afford. Thus, the study had low external validity, which restricts the extrapolation of results to the entire population.

The findings relate with other studies, which have concluded that proper management of diabetes mellitus and effective foot care practices are central in the prevention of diabetic foot. A comprehensive education program is a feasible approach to preventing and managing diabetes mellitus and diabetic foot because increased awareness of the conditions in the population will enhance the efforts of the health care systems. According to World Health Organization, people can prevent and manage most diseases if they have enough information concerning causes, prevention, and treatment of varied diseases. Thus, the study relates with other research studies, which have established that comprehensive education of patients and the public is a feasible approach of preventing and managing diabetes mellitus and related conditions.

The discussion is important as the authors contend because diabetes and diabetic foot are health issues that need comprehensive education of diabetic patients to significantly reduce their incidences. Changing health lifestyles in society has predisposed many people to diabetes and diabetic foot as trends in diabetes mellitus are increasing alarmingly. Type II diabetes, which was an exclusive disease of adults is gradually becoming dominant in young adults and adolescents. Moreover, statistics have revealed that diabetic patients are 20 times more susceptible to diabetic foot than the general population; thus, prompting the application of comprehensive interventions to reverse the alarming trends of diabetic foot among the population is paramount. Hence, comprehensive education of diabetic patients is one of the effective interventions that are critical in prevention of diabetic foot and amputation of lower limbs.

Reference

Poljicanin, T., Pavlic-Renar, I., Metelko, Z., & Coce, F. (2005). Draft Program of Prevention of Diabetic Foot Development and Lower Extremity Amputation in Persons with Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetologia Croatica, 34(2), 43-49.

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