Risk of foot complications in diabetes mellitus; how much do the diabetes mellitus patients in Enugu know?

BACKGROUND: Diabetes Mellitus is a disease that has multisystem effects and complications are known to develop in several organs after some years. Diabetic foot problems are largely preventable and both care givers and the diabetic patient must place high priority on prevention through education. Health providers in developing countries are inadequate, overworked and do not have enough time to spend on health education of their patients. AIM: This study was carried out to evaluate the level of awareness of diabetes mellitus patients of complications of the disease seen in the foot in order to plan and execute effective health education programme to reduce complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study was carried out in the medical outpatient clinic of ESUT teaching Hospital Enugu from January to July 2015 using pretested structured questionnaire. RESULTS: 283 patients were sampled but only 260 supplied data for analysis. In the study, 150(57.7%) were females and 110(42.3%) were males. Age of the participants ranged from 32years to 88years, with mean age 0f 60.2years. Majority of the participants 258(99.2%) had been educated on common foot complications seen in diabetes mellitus. Only 70(27%) of the respondents could recognise loss of sensation in the foot as a sign of foot complication. CONCLUSION: Diabetic foot complication is still high in our diabetics and represents failure of preventive measures, requiring change of modality. Better education of diabetics must be emphasised in addition to any other attempt to curtail the problem.