%0 Journal Article
%T Foot care and footwear practices among patients attending a specialist diabetes clinic in Jamaica
%A Krystal A.T. Gayle
%A Marshall K. Tulloch-Reid
%A Novie O. Younger
%A Damian K. Francis
%J Clinics and Practice
%D 2012
%I PAGEPress Publications
%R 10.4081/cp.2012.e85
%X This study aimed to estimate the proportion of patients at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) Diabetes Clinic who engage in recommended foot care and footwear practices. Seventy-two participants from the UHWI Diabetes Clinic completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire on foot care practices and types of footwear worn. Participants were a subset of a sex-stratified random sample of clinic attendees and were interviewed in 2010. Data analysis included frequency estimates of the various foot care practices and types of footwear worn. Participants had a mean age of 57.0¡À14.3 years and mean duration of diabetes of 17.0¡À10.3 years. Fifty-three percent of participants reported being taught how to care for their feet, while daily foot inspection was performed by approximately 60% of participants. Most participants (90%) reported daily use of moisturizing lotion on the feet but almost 50% used lotion between the toes. In conclusion, approximately 85% of participants reported wearing shoes or slippers both indoors and outdoors but over 40% reported walking barefoot at some time. Thirteen percent wore special shoes for diabetes while over 80% wore shoes without socks at some time. Although much larger proportions reported wearing broad round toe shoes (82%) or leather shoes (64%), fairly high proportions reported wearing pointed toe shoes (39%), and 43% of women wore high heel shoes. Approximately 60% of patients at the UHWI diabetic clinic engage in daily foot inspection and other recommended practices, but fairly high proportions reported foot care or footwear choices that should be avoided.
%K foot wear
%K foot care
%K diabetes
%K diabetic foot
%K Jamaica
%K Caribbean.
%U http://www.clinicsandpractice.org/index.php/cp/article/view/534