The Effect of Foot Care Camp on Diabetic Foot Care Knowledge and Behaviors of Individuals With Diabetes Mellitus in Indonesia / Angger Anugerah Hadi Sulistyo

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study aimed to examine the effect of Foot Care (FC) Camp on Diabetic Foot Care Knowledge (DFCK) and Diabetic Foot Care Behaviors (DFCB) among participants with diabetes. Seventy-two participants who met inclusion criteria were selected from the two biggest DM population of public health centers in Bojonegoro, East Java, Indonesia. Participants were divided into experimental (n = 37) and control group (n = 35). In the control group, participants received standard care provided by the public health center, whereas those in the experimental group received standard care plus FC camp. The intervention was given a five-week period. It consisted of a half-day of educational session for two days and weekly follow-up telephone call contacts for three weeks. The DFCK and DFCB were examined on the fifth week. The DFCK and DFCB were determined by the Modified Diabetic Foot Care Knowledge (MDFCK) and the Modified Diabetic Foot Care Behaviors (MDFCB) questionnaires. The content validity of educational session, MDFCK questionnaire, and MDFCB questionnaire were validated by three experts. The internal reliability test showed that the MDFCK questionnaire yielded a KR-20 coefficient of .75 and the MDFCB yielded a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .81. The findings showed that the mean score of DFCK in the experimental group after completing the FC camp was significantly better (M = 11.59, SD = 2.02) than that in the control group (M=9.34, SD = 2.22) (p < .001). Similarly, the mean score of DFCB in the experimental group after completing the FC camp (M = 73.51, SD = 13.16) was significantly better than that in the control group (M = 51.23, SD=9.91) (p < .001). The result within experimental group also showed that the post-test mean score of posttest of DFCK and DFCB were significantly higher than that in the pre-test (p < .001, respectively). Based on the findings of this study, FC camp proved to enhance DFCK and DFCB among diabetics' patients. Therefore, this program can be utilized for nursing practice in order to prevent diabetic foot ulcer and foot amputation.