Abstract:
Background: Diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of non-traumatic amputation worldwide.
The major amputation occurs every 20 seconds globally as a result of diabetic foot
complications due to poor knowledge and practice of foot care.
Objectives: To critically appraise evidence on the knowledge and practices of foot care among
patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Asian countries.
Methods: A systematic review was conducted to critically appraise and summarize the data into
a single study. Thus, Pub Med, CINAHL and Wiley Online Library were referred using the
keywords; type 2 diabetes mellitus, knowledge, practices, foot care and Asian countries. Then
1390 articles were found published from 2015-2021 in English. The PRISMA filtering
technique was focused to select the best research. Finally, seven articles were selected
considering inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Results: Qualitative thematic analysis was applied, and three key themes emerged from the
results. The first key theme is the deficiency of knowledge of foot care leading to diverse
complications. Many patients did not have enough knowledge regarding the daily inspection of
the foot, checking the temperature of water before washing feet, drying feet after washing. The
second theme is that poor practices of diabetic foot care cause amputations. They followed
many malpractices such as not trimming toenails straight across, not applying any moisturizer
on the foot skin to avoid dryness. The third theme is that footwear avoids injuries. Many
malpractices leading to foot injuries were identified relating to footwear such as not checking
the inside before wearing shoes, wearing barefoot indoor and outdoor frequently.
Conclusions: The deficiency of knowledge and malpractices of diabetic foot care are influential
factors for the development of various foot complications as well as increasing foot
amputations. Therefore, health care providers should maintain regular educational programs
ensuring knowledge and practice.
