Diabetic Foot Ulcer
Conditions
Keywords
Patient education, Foot self-care, Foot self-care adherence, Social media, Self-management support
Brief summary
The primary objective of this study is to examine the feasibility of a Facebook group-based program to support adults with diabetes in their foot self-care and prevention of foot ulcers. The sub-objectives are: 1\. To determine the recruitment and retention rate of participants in the study. 2. To assess the acceptability of the Facebook group program among participants. 3. To determine the level and pattern of engagement by the participants within the Facebook group platform. 4. To determine the efficacy of the Facebook group program and how it works to improve diabetic foot care-related outcomes.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALDiabetic foot self-management support
Daily educational organic or inorganic posts (2 to 5) released in a timed sequence through a Hootsuite application plus peer interactions/support for three months.
Sponsors
Wounds Canada
Helen Obilor
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Access to a diabetic foot self-management support program via a Facebook group platform for 3 months.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Clinical diagnosis of type I or II diabetes; * 18 years of age or older * reside in Canada * Proficiency in the English language - understanding, speaking, reading, and writing. * Have an active Facebook account or willing to create one * Have access to the internet and computer or smartphone
Exclusion criteria
* Declined consent * Did not provide follow-up contact information * Completed less than 60% of the baseline survey
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The number of participants that accepted the intervention. | Four weeks after the commencement of intervention. | Number of participants who scored above 70 in the questionnaire on acceptance and satisfaction with the Facebook group-based program. |
| The level of participants' engagement in the Facebook group. | Throughout the intervention period (3 months). | The number of participants who viewed and reacted (comments and likes) to educational posts. |
| The efficacy of the study intervention on participants' foot self-care adherence. | Two time points > Baseline and at the end of the intervention period (3 months). | Mean difference in participants' baseline and three-month post-intervention foot self-care adherence. Foot self-care adherence will be assessed using an adapted Foot Self-Care Behavior Tool, which consists of 17 items on preventive and potentially destructive foot self-care practices with a score range of 0 - 87. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The efficacy of the study intervention on participants' communication with health care professionals. | Two time points > Baseline and at the end of the intervention period (3 months). | Mean difference in participants' baseline and three-month post-intervention communication with health care professionals. Participants' level of communication with health care professionals about their foot health will be assessed using an adapted Stanford University Chronic Disease Self-Management Program Communication with Physicians' Tool with a score range of 0 - 15. |
| The efficacy of the study intervention on participants' foot self-care confidence. | Two time points > Baseline and at the end of the intervention period (3 months). | Mean difference in participants' baseline and three-month post-intervention foot self-care confidence. Foot self-care confidence will be measured using the Foot Care Confidence Scale (FCCS), which consists of 12 items on a five-point Likert scale with a score range of 12 - 60. |
| The efficacy of the study intervention on participants' quality of life. | Two time points > Baseline and at the end of the intervention period (3 months). | Mean difference in participants' baseline and three-month post-intervention quality of life score. The participants' quality of life will be assessed using the Medical Outcome Study Short Form questionnaire (SF-12). |
| The efficacy of the study intervention on participants' perceived foot health status. | Two time points > Baseline and at the end of the intervention period (3 months). | Mean difference in participants' baseline and three-month post-intervention perceived foot health status. Perceived foot health status will be assessed using the general foot health questions 9 and 12 of the Foot Health Status Questionnaire with a score range of 2 - 10. |
| The efficacy of the study intervention on participants' awareness of community resources. | Two time points > Baseline and at the end of the intervention period (3 months). | Mean difference in participants' baseline and three-month post-intervention awareness of community resources. Participants' awareness of community resources will be assessed by asking them to rate the extent to which they can successfully locate available resources in their community for preventing DFU on a scale of 0 - 10. |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed