Professional profile and care practices for the treatment of diabetes-related foot ulcers

Abstract Objective: To analyze the professional profile and care practices of stomatherapists in the treatment of foot ulcers related to diabetes in elderly people. Methods: a cross-sectional study composing 181 stomatherapists in 2021. The inclusion criteria contemplated stomatherapists who cared for or cared for older adults and those who worked in direct care, but who worked in consultancy, advisory, teaching, and research, were excluded. We investigated sociodemographic and professional data and aspects of caring for older adults and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences through bivariate analysis and binary logistic regression. Results: The average age was 43.18 years, the average time of experience in stomatherapy was 7.51 years, 121 (66.9%) did not carry out an individualized care plan, and 58 (32%) did not use a tool for functional assessment of older adults. There was a significant association between length of training in enterostomal therapy and the use of clinical guidelines (χ2(1)=6.155 p=0.013) and the use of monofilament to assess the feet (χ2(1)=4.236 p=0.040). Conclusion: It’s important to mention that clinical practice has shown a lack of routine use of functional assessment tools, which impacts the overall quality of care at the intersection of diabetes and geriatric health. Experienced stomatherapists frequently use clinical guidelines and foot evaluation with monofilaments, which favors better care actions. However, the professional profile and care practices did not show statistical differences in most variables investigated.