Knowledge of diabetic foot care management among medical students at Tabuk University, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

Background:  Diabetic foot (DF) is a common condition among diabetic patients and the leading cause of diabetic hospitalizations. The prevalence of diabetic foot will rise dramatically as the incidence of diabetes mellitus rises throughout the Arab world, particularly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Objectives:  To assess the knowledge about diabetic foot care management among medical students at Tabuk university in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Methods:  This cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students at Tabuk University in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia from October to December 2022. Participants were selected via convenient non-probability sampling technique. An online self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data via Google form. Data analysis was conducted by using SPSS. Results: In this study we included 301 respondents. Most of them were females (63.8%). Our results showed that the mean knowledge score of study population was 52.7 ± 8.76, range (8 – 64). Moreover, we noted that foot examination domain achieved the highest knowledge score 8.5 ± 1.92, range (0 – 10) and applications for preventing foot complications domain reported the lowest knowledge score 23.2 ± 3.90, range (6 – 29). The main source of training was the curriculum of the college of medicine (79.4%). Foot examination was the most common training need by respondents. Age, gender, marital status, academic years, previous training on diabetic foot care, patients education about diabetic foot risk and problems and performing foot examination for diabetic patients, were significantly associated with knowledge about diabetic foot care management (P < 0.001, 0.019, 0.002, 0.007, 0.001, 0.024, and < 0.001 respectively). Conclusion:  Our findings revealed that medical students in Tabuk region, Saudi Arabia had acceptable level of knowledge about diabetic foot care management. Above mentioned associated factors should be considered in future research.