Browsing by Author "Chibwe, Evelyn"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Assessment of knowledge, practices and barriers to foot care among patients with diabetes mellitus at Zomba Central Hospital, Malawi
    (2019-05-01) Chibwe, Evelyn
    Foot ulceration is one of the most common complications among patients suffering from Diabetes Mellitus. Good knowledge and practice regarding foot care has been documented to reduce the risk of such foot complications and amputation. This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted to assess knowledge, assess practices and identify barriers to foot care among patients with diabetes at Zomba Central Hospital. A structured questionnaire was used to assess foot care knowledge, practices, and other related variables of 81systematically selected diabetic patients. Data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Software version 20.0. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations with 95% confidence interval were computed and findings have been presented in tables and figures. Of 81 Diabetes patients, 82.7% (n=62) had good knowledge and 26.6 % (n=21) had good practice on foot care. With regard to knowledge, 90.1% (n=73) were aware of the first thing to be done when they found redness/bleeding between their toes and 75.3% (n=61) were aware of the importance of inspecting the feet. Poor foot practices included; 81.5% (n=66) walked bare footed and 66.7% (n=54) used a stone to clean their feet. Barriers to foot care reported by respondents were: lack of knowledge and lack of money to buy appropriate materials. The findings have highlighted the gaps in knowledge, practices and barriers to foot care in DM patients. The study recommends enhancement of health education on foot care, continual motivation and support to patients with Diabetes. The study was done in one hospital, if multiple sites where used the data could have been enriched.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of care takers of children on oxygen therapying high dependency unit at Kamuzu Central Hospital.
    (Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, 2008-11-28) Chibwe, Evelyn
    The research conducted aimed at exploring and describing knowledge, attitudes and perception of care takers on oxygen therapy. A quantitative descriptive study was conducted at Kamuzu Central hospital in Lilongwe district. It was conducted on mothers who had their children on oxygen therapy. Simple random sampling was used to choose participants. Permission to conduct a study was sought from Kamuzu College of Nursing Research and Publication Committee, the director of Kamuzu Central hospital and the sister in- charge of the paediatric ward A. Thirty questionnaires were formulated and administered to participants after being fully informed about the study and consent was obtained before obtaining the data from the participants. Data was analysed using manual analysis where frequencies, percentages, tables and graphs have been used to present the findings. The results show that people have knowledge on oxygen therapy but cultural beliefs play a great role in influencing people to refuse oxygen therapy. The results further show that there is little explanation about oxygen therapy to the caretakers when the child needs supplementary oxygen, furthermore nurses do not monitor patients when on oxygen therapy most of the times. Therefore, recommendations are made to sensitise people on oxygen therapy through mass media and health talks, and the government has to design posters on oxygen therapy.