Which is more effective in the care of diabetic foot infections: instructions regarding diabetic foot disorders or the level of education?
Erhan Ayşan, Türker Ertürk, Arslan Kaygusuz
İstanbul Eğitim Araştırma Hastanesi, Üçüncü Genel Cerrahi Kliniği, İSTANBUL
Abstract
Purpose:
Materials and Methods: In 2004, through the usage of questionnaires and foot examinations, a study was conducted at the Istanbul Education and Research Hospital General Surgery and Diabetes Polyclinics on 71 patients comprising individuals already suffering from diabetic foot infections and those under the risk of suffering from diabetic foot infection (stage 0), along with their 57 caregivers (amounting to a total of 128 subjects) to investigate their level of schooling, knowledge of patients/caregivers regarding diabetic foot infections and the relationship of the stages of the infection in accordance with Wagner's diabetic foot wound classification.
Results: Of the patients studied, 74.7%had completed primary school, 18.3%were high school graduates and 7%had received education at a university. 58%of these patients had been given instruction regarding diabetic foot infections while 42%had not. As for the caregivers, 33 (comprising 57.9%) had completed primary school, 22 (38.6%) were high school graduates and 2 (3.5%) were university graduates. Statistical analysis performed with Mann Whitney U test revealed no statistically significant association between Wagner stages and the level of schooling of patients and their caregivers (p>0.05). However, statistical analysis performed through the implementation of Chi-square test resulted in a significant inverse relationship between patients educated in diabetic foot infections and the Wagner stages (p<0.01).
Conclusions: The level of schooling of patients and their caregivers has no effect on the infection stage, however, instructing/educating of patients reduces the infection stage.
Keywords: Diabetes, foot, wound, caregiver, schooling, Wagner, grade, amputation.