Awareness of long-term foot complications in people living with diabetes mellitus in Mauritius: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Mauritius has a high disease burden of diabetes mellitus and ranked twelfth globally according to the International Diabetes Federation. According to the non-communicable disease survey 2021, it was found that 19.9 % of the Mauritian population suffers from Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The long-term diabetic foot complications contribute to premature mortality and increased morbidity. Proper knowledge of diabetic foot complications and good foot care practices may help mitigate the long-term burden of diabetic foot complications in Mauritius in particular and Africa in general. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the awareness of long-term diabetic foot complications and practice of proper foot care among people living with DM in Mauritius. Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted among people living with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) attending Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) clinics at Dr. Abdool Gaffoor Jeetoo Hospital (regional hospital), Mauritius and its nearby primary healthcare centers, which serve a majority of the urban and semi-urban population. Results: the study showed good knowledge about diabetic foot complications and average foot care practicing among the participants. A significant positive correlation between knowledge and practice scores (r = 0.477, p < 0.05) was found, indicating that increased knowledge was associated with better foot care practices. There was a significant negative association between practice score and glycaemic control (r= -0.311 p< 0.001) as well as a negative association between knowledge score and HbA1c. (r=-0.226, p<0.001). It can be deduced that people living with DM with controlled HbA1c had better knowledge about diabetic foot complications and practiced good foot care. The work status of a patient with DM had a significantly better coefficient on knowledge score OR 7.534 [1.392-40.779]. This was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). This implies that as the work status of people living with diabetes mellitus improves, the person is 7.534 times more likely to have improved knowledge of diabetic foot complications. Conclusion: despite having good knowledge on long-term diabetic foot complications, the participants did not practice proper foot care, which could be a result of a lack of education on foot care among people living with DM or a lack of motivation from healthcare professionals, relatives and friends.