The outcome of 60-second foot screening tool education for healthcare workers at University College Hospital, Nigeria

Abstract

People living with diabetes are at risk of acquiring foot ulcers, which may eventually result in lower extremity amputation. Literature confirms that in patients with diabetes, foot screening is critical and yields positive outcomes. It was not certain whether a cross-section of healthcare providers from Nigeria were familiar with the use of the the 60-second foot screening tool, hence the need for this study. This was a descriptive cross-sectional survey. It included a pre-training test, a training education session and a post-training test. The study was conducted to evaluate baseline knowledge and the impact of foot screening education on the early detection of the risk of acquiring a diabetic foot ulcer in a group of healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and physiotherapists, at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. The majority of the respondents (80%) scored above 50 in the pre-training test. All of the participants scored above 50 in the post-training test. The overall mean knowledge score of respondents in the pre-training test was 56.8 ± 10.8 (15.2-75.8), while it was 77.0 ± 7.9 (51.5-92.4) in the posttraining test. At baseline, most of the healthcare providers had good knowledge of foot screening. Doctors’ knowledge was slightly better than that of the nurses. The overall knowledge of participants on diabetic foot screening improved significantly after a training session on foot screening. Foot screening education had a significant impact on the foot screening knowledge of the healthcare workers.