Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Feb 15;152(2):109-116.
doi: 10.1177/1715163519826166. eCollection 2019 Mar-Apr.

Systematic review of community pharmacy-based and pharmacist-led foot care interventions for adults with type 2 diabetes

Allison L Soprovich  1   2 , Vishal Sharma  1   2 , Lisa Tjosvold  1   2 , Dean T Eurich  1   2 , Jeffrey A Johnson  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Systematic review of community pharmacy-based and pharmacist-led foot care interventions for adults with type 2 diabetes

Allison L Soprovich et al. Can Pharm J (Ott). .

Abstract

Background: To prevent diabetic foot disease, proper foot care is essential for early detection and treatment. Pharmacists are well suited to provide accessible foot care to adults with type 2 diabetes. Limited research has examined this role.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of community pharmacy-based and pharmacist-led foot care interventions for adults with type 2 diabetes compared to usual care. Data sources included MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Academic Search Complete and Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition and Google Scholar, plus Google and hand-searching. Original research studies reported in English, focused on community pharmacy-based or pharmacist-led foot care interventions were eligible for review. Participants were adults with type 2 diabetes. Studies were summarized narratively; pooled data were not possible.

Results: Seven studies were included in this review, 3 focusing on improving foot self-care behaviours and 4 on promoting foot examinations by the health care provider. Only 2 studies were randomized and were assessed as high quality. Six out of 7 studies reported significantly positive findings related to foot care practices.

Discussion: An opportunity to influence foot care exists at each clinical encounter. Pharmacists are accessible health care practitioners and appropriate to provide a range of diabetes foot care interventions.

Conclusions: Seven studies examined community pharmacy-based and pharmacist-led foot care interventions for people with type 2 diabetes. Community pharmacies and pharmacists are capable of providing a variety of foot care interventions to patients with diabetes, helping detect problems early and leading to prompt intervention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests:The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRIMSA flow diagram
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of findings among 3 studies using the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA), average days per week performing foot self-care activities,,
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Singh N, Armstrong DG, Lipsky BA. Preventing foot ulcers in patients with diabetes. JAMA 2005;293(2):217-28. - PubMed
    1. Armstrong DG, Boulton AJM, Bus SA. Diabetic foot ulcers and their recurrence. N Engl J Med 2017;376(24):2367-75. - PubMed
    1. Yekta Z, Pourali R, Ghasemi-Rad M. Comparison of demographic and clinical characteristics influencing health-related quality of life in patients with diabetic foot ulcers and those without foot ulcers. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes 2011;4:393-9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ribu L, Hanestad BR, Moum T, Birkeland K, Rustoen T. A comparison of the health-related quality of life in patients with diabetic foot ulcers, with a diabetes group and a nondiabetes group from the general population. Qual Life Res 2007;16(2):179-89. - PubMed
    1. Walsh JW, Hoffstad OJ, Sullivan MO, Margolis DJ. Association of diabetic foot ulcer and death in a population-based cohort from the United Kingdom. Diabet Med 2016;33(11):1493-8. - PubMed