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Objective: To evaluate therapeutic footwear expectations and usability of individuals with diabetes and foot complications. Design: A prospective multicenter study was conducted on participants with a high risk of developing a diabetic foot ulcer. Setting: Participants were enrolled in 11 different specialized diabetic foot units in Spain between March 2022 and June 2023. Subjects: Patients with diabetes at moderate to high risk of foot ulceration receiving first therapeutic footwear prescription. Interventions: All the patients included in the research were prescribed with their first pair of therapeutic footwear. Main measures: Primary outcome measures were MOS-pre and MOS-post questionnaires evaluating use and usability of prescribed therapeutic footwear. Secondary outcome measures aimed to evaluate footwear clinical efficacy as ulceration rate and self-reported perceived walking distance per day. Results: The use of therapeutic footwear exceeded the patient's pre-provision prediction of their anticipated use in 94% of people (n = 126). Based on the visual analogic satisfaction scale, the median satisfaction of daily wearing their therapeutic footwear was 7 points, Interquartile Range (IQR) [5–8.25]. During the follow-up period, 39 participants (29.1%) experienced diabetic foot ulcer. Perceived walking distance participants reported an improvement in their perceived walking ability during various daily life activities. Conclusions: Diabetes patients at moderate to high risk of diabetic foot ulcer improved their perception of walking ability after therapeutic footwear prescription. Adherence to the therapeutic footwear prescription resulted in less ulcerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Management of emergency care Background: Healico© is an innovative smartphone application designed to assist healthcare professionals in managing wounds in their daily practice. The application records all clinical information of the wound, facilitating its monitoring, and may lead to the selection of the best treatment for the patient. In addition, the application allows secure data sharing among healthcare professionals. Case Report: We report the successful use of Healico© in aiding the avoidance of foot amputation in a 65-year-old patient with diabetes. The patient had a diabetic foot ulcer, the main cause of lower limb amputation in Spain. Amputations negatively impact the quality of life of patients and are an enormous economic burden. The treatment of diabetic foot ulcers requires a multidisciplinary approach with good coordination between healthcare professionals from different fields and between different levels of care (primary care centers, sociosanitary centers, and hospitals). Through the use of Healico©, the patient with severe clinical signs of infection was referred urgently from primary care to the referral hospital and was quickly treated with antibiotics and underwent surgery. As a result, the infection was successfully delimited and excision of the foot was prevented. Conclusions: Healico© promoted rapid communication between the primary care center and hospital, enabling urgent referral of the patient to a specialist. This clinical case reports the value that a digital application can bring to the healthcare sector and, in particular, the value of Healico© implementation in the daily practice of healthcare professionals to optimize the management of wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]