Foot Health Assessment and Problem Identification in a Dominican Batey Community: A Descriptive Study.
Jennifer J O'Connor, Maithe Enriquez, Deidre D Wipke-Tevis
PMID 33290018WHAT IT FOUND
All 41 adults screened in a Dominican sugarcane village had at least one foot problem, mostly calluses, dry skin, and thick nails.
None had serious infection or trauma, but simple self-care supplies and training could help prevent progression.
Key findings
01All 41 adults had at least one foot problem, and 13 of the 24 checklist problems were observed.
02Most observed foot problems were skin or nail related, and the six most common were calluses, dry skin, thick nails, jagged or unevenly cut nails, long nails, and skin fissures.
03Male participants were more likely than female participants to have thick toenails, but older age was not associated with more foot problems.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Small convenience sample from one batey, recruited by snowball sampling, so it may not represent other communities. Data were collected at a church near the top of a hill, so people who could not walk there, including homebound or very unwell adults, were likely missed. The checklist recorded whether problems were present but not how severe they were, and only one clinician performed the exam. Participants were not asked how foot problems affected pain, walking, work, or quality of life. Body mass index was not measured, although it is discussed as a possible risk factor for calluses. The study was too small to reliably detect age-related differences in foot problems. Because it was cross-sectional, it cannot show that flip-flops, walking, or other factors caused the foot problems.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the high rate of calluses and thick nails as proof that flip-flops caused foot disease or that these adults had dangerous foot problems. The study only described observed problems in 41 ambulatory people, and none had serious infection, orthopedic, perfusion, or traumatic foot problems.