Comparing foot care behaviours in middle-aged and elderly patients living with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Abstract

AIM The aims of the study were to evaluate and compare foot care behaviours between middle-aged (45-64 years) and elderly patients (65+ years) living with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Malta. The researcher sought to investigate these two age groups since previous literature has highlighted the physical and cognitive limitations of the elderly population. Since Type 2 diabetes arises after 40 years of age, the researcher sought to compare middle-aged and elderly participants. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A single-centre, non-experimental comparative study was conducted on sixty Maltese patients living with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study was conducted at the Diabetes and Endocrine Centre, at the state general hospital from October 2011 to November 2011. The sixty participants were recruited by convenience sampling method. Participants were divided into thirty middle-aged participants, aged between forty-five and sixty-four years, and thirty elderly participants, aged sixty-five years and over. A diabetes profile was used to record all demographic data. The Nottingham Assessment of Functional Foot (NAFF) was used to elicit detail about foot care behaviours. RESULTS The One-way ANOVA test was used to investigate the socio-demographic data and the questionnaires' mean scores of the two groups. Findings showed no significant statistical difference between the socio-demographic data, except for weight (p-value 0.019). The mean total score of NAFF showed no significant statistical difference between the two age groups (p-value 0.635). Foot care behaviours were suboptimal (middle-aged 55.43 vs. 54.73 elderly, out of a possible maximum score of 87). For discussion purposes, the NAFF was divided into subsections, and the only subsection that showed a significant statistical difference was 'General Foot Care' (p-value 0.027). The chi-square test was used to examine the questionnaire's questions individually. Significant statistical differences were found in frequency of nail trimming (p-value 0.029), and frequency of trainers wearing (p-value 0.026). In all the questions that showed a significant statistical difference, middle-aged scored better practices. CONCLUSION There is no significant statistical difference in foot care behaviours between middle-aged and elderly patients living with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The lack of discrepancies between the two age groups proves that education is being delivered to all age groups. Even though education is being delivered, it seems that certain foot care behaviours are still lacking. Health professionals need to seek the rationale behind such neglect, and implement different methods to enhance better foot care engagement.