Article

We developed and validated a survey of foot selfcare
education and behaviors in 772 diabetic patients with
high-risk feet at eight Department of Veterans Affairs medical
centers. Principal components analysis identified six subscales
with satisfactory internal consistency: basic foot-care education, extended foot-care education, basic professional foot care, extended professional foot care, basic foot self-care, and
extended foot self-care (alpha = 0.77­0.91). Despite high illness
burden, adherence to foot self-care recommendations was
less than optimal; only 32.2% of participants reported looking
at the bottom of their feet daily. Independent predictors of
greater adherence to basic foot self-care practices included
African-American or Hispanic background, perceived neuropathy,
foot ulcers in the last year, prior amputation (beta = 0.08­
0.12, p < 0.04­0.001), and provision of greater basic and
extended education (beta = 0.16, p < 0.004, and beta = 0.15, p
< 0.007). The survey subscales can now be used for evaluating
foot care and education needs for persons with high-risk feet.

Langue : ANGLAIS