Abstract:

Background: Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) it is becoming more common in Africa. DFU in Tanzania is estimated to be around 15% among adults aged 24-65 years-higher than the HIV prevalence in general population. The probability to develop diabetic foot ulcer in patient with diabetic mellitus is approximately 15% to 20%. At the time of diagnosis more than 10% of people with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus have one or two risk factors for foot ulceration, and the most appropriate treatment results in some form of surgery such as amputation.

Objective: To assess awareness of the risk factor for diabetic foot among diabetic patient at BMC.

Methods: This was a cross sectional hospital-based study conducted at BMC which is a lake zone health facility and it is easily accessible to a researcher. A total of 150 diabetic patients were involved in the study. An exit interviews with diabetic patient was conducted to obtain key information using diabetic foot questions used in previous studies, knowledge was grouped into excellent (9-11), good (6-8) and (0-5) as poor. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20.

Results: A total of 150 patient at BMC were included in this study of which 80 (53.3%) were female and 70 (46. 7%) were males. The age ranged from 20 to 101 years with a mean age of 52.96 +/-11.51. Finding of this study has reflected the importance of awareness toward good practice and altitude, majority of participant of this study had good knowledge, practice and altitude.

Conclusion: Difference in awareness related to diabetic foot ulcer and self-foot care practice and knowledge is possibly due to differences on health seeking behavior practice among different population and level of education is influencing awareness and good practice on prevention of diabetic foot ulcer.