Delea, Sarah and Buckley, Claire and Hanrahan, Andrew and McGreal, Gerald and Desmond, Deirdre and McHugh, Sheena
(2015)
Management of diabetic foot disease and
amputation in the Irish health system: a
qualitative study of patients’ attitudes and
experiences with health services.
BMC Health Services Research, 15 (251).
pp. 1-10.
ISSN 1472-6963
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Diabetes is an increasingly prevalent chronic illness that places a huge burden on the individual, the
health system and society. Patients with active foot disease and lower limb amputations due to diabetes have a
significant amount of interaction with the health care services. The purpose of this study was to explore the
attitudes and experiences of foot care services in Ireland among people with diabetes and active foot disease or
lower limb amputations.
Methods: A purposive sample of individuals who had either active foot disease or a lower limb amputation as a
result of diabetes were recruited from the Prosthetic, Orthotic and Limb Absence Rehabilitation (POLAR) Unit of an
Irish hospital. One-to-one interviews were conducted in the POLAR unit using a semi-structured topic guide.
Thematic analysis was used to identify, analyse and describe patterns within the data.
Results: Ten males participated in the study. Most participants expressed a need for emotional support alongside
the medical management of their condition. There were substantial differences between participants with regard to
the level of education and information they appeared to have received regarding their illness. There were also
variations in levels of service received. Transport and medication costs were considered barriers. Having a medical
card, which entitles the holder to free medical care, eased the burden of the patient’s illness. A number of
participants attributed some of the problems they faced with services to the health care system as a whole rather
than health care professionals.
Conclusion: Results suggest that rehabilitation services should place a strong focus on psychological as well as
physical adjustment to active foot disease or lower limb amputations. The delivery of services needs to be
standardised to ensure equal access to medical care and supplies among people with or at risk of lower extremity
amputations. The wider social circumstances of patients should be taken into consideration by health care
professionals to provide effective support while patients adjust to this potentially life changing complication. The
patient’s perspective should also be used to inform health service managers and health professionals on ways to
improve services.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Additional Information: |
© 2015 Delea et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://
creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. |
| Keywords: |
Diabetes; Foot disease; Lower limb amputation; Health services; Patient experience; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology |
| Item ID: |
6363 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-015-0926-9 |
| Depositing User: |
Dr. Deirdre Desmond
|
| Date Deposited: |
16 Sep 2015 15:53 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
BMC Health Services Research |
| Publisher: |
BioMed Central |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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