'Leaving the Door Open': Perspectives on Decision-Making for Non-Emergency Diabetes-Related Amputation.

Introduction: Having a lower extremity amputation is a life-changing decision for people living with a diabetes-related foot ulcer. Although previous research has described both positive and negative lifestyle and function outcomes of diabetes-related amputations, limited research has been conducted on the decision-making processes leading up to the amputation. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of persons, healthcare practitioners and experts (including academics and specialists) on decision-making for people with a diabetes-related foot ulcer who may require a non-emergency amputation.

Motivators and barriers for studying podiatry in Australia and New Zealand: A mixed methods study.

Background: Podiatry enrolments at Australian and New Zealand universities have decreased by 17.3% since 2015, which threatens the profession's sustainability and the health and wellbeing of Australian and New Zealand people and communities. Reasons for this decline remain unclear due to insufficient evidence on factors influencing career choices.

Determining confidence and anxiety of Australian community podiatrists in managing foot ulceration: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Diabetes related foot ulcer (DFU) is a leading cause of impaired quality of life, disability, hospitalisation, amputation and mortality in people with diabetes. It is therefore critical that podiatrists across all settings, including community settings, are confident and capable of providing care for diabetes-related foot complications. This study aims to describe current practice, confidence and anxiety levels of community podiatrists in the management of patients with foot ulceration.

Consensus-based statements for assessing clinical competency in podiatry-related work integrated learning.

Background: The training of undergraduate and graduate-entry podiatry students in Australia and New Zealand includes practical sessions in a simulated and real-life clinical setting and Work Integrated Learning (WIL) comprising professional clinical placements. Student performance during WIL is evaluated by their Clinical Educators using clinical competency tools. Having a standardised and validated clinical assessment tool for WIL in podiatry would facilitate consistency in assessment, promote standardisation between programs, and ensure that all podiatry students are assessed against a set of criteria over the course of their clinical programs to the point of threshold clinical competency.

Investigating the experience of receiving podiatry care in a tertiary care hospital clinic for people with diabetes related foot ulcers.

Background: Diabetes related foot ulcers can have physical, social, emotional, and financial impacts on the daily life and wellbeing of many people living with diabetes. Effective treatment of diabetes related foot ulcers requires a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary approach involving a podiatrist, other healthcare professionals, and the person with diabetes however, limited research has been conducted on the lived experience of podiatric treatment for diabetes related foot ulcers to understand how people are engaged in their ulcer management. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the lived experience of receiving podiatric treatment for diabetes related foot ulcers in a tertiary care outpatient setting.

Running-induced fatigue and impact loading in runners: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesise and clarify the effect of running-induced fatigue on impact loading during running. Eight electronic databases were systematically searched until April 2021. Studies that analysed impact loading over the course of a run, in adult runners free of medical conditions were included.

Australian podiatrists scheduled medicine prescribing practices and barriers and facilitators to endorsement: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Non-medical prescribing is one healthcare reform strategy that has the potential to create health system savings and offer equitable and timely access to scheduled medicines. Podiatrists are well positioned to create health system efficiencies through prescribing, however, only a small proportion of Australian podiatrists are endorsed to prescribe scheduled medicines. Since scheduled medicines prescribed by Australian podiatrists are not subsidised by the Government, there is a lack of data available on the prescribing practices of Australian podiatrists.

Reliability of ultrasound in evaluating the plantar skin and fat pad of the foot in the setting of diabetes.

Ultrasound can be used to assess injury and structural changes to the soft-tissue structure of the foot. It may be useful to assess the feet of people with diabetes who are at increased risk of plantar soft-tissue pathological changes. The aim of this study was to determine if ultrasound measurements of plantar soft-tissue thickness and assessments of tissue acoustic characteristics are reliable in people with and without diabetes mellitus.

Barriers to and facilitators of endorsement for scheduled medicines in podiatry: a qualitative descriptive study.

Background: Australian podiatrists and podiatric surgeons who have successfully completed the requirements for endorsement for scheduled medicines, as directed by the Podiatry Board of Australia, are eligible to prescribe a limited amount of schedule 2, 3, 4 or 8 medications. Registration to become endorsed for scheduled medicines has been available to podiatrists for over 10 years, yet the uptake of training has remained low (approximately 2% of registered podiatrists/podiatry surgeons). This study aimed to explore barriers to and facilitators of engagement with endorsement for scheduled medicines by podiatrists.

Adequacy of clinical information in X-ray referrals for traumatic ankle injury with reference to the Ottawa Ankle Rules-a retrospective clinical audit.

Study Objective: To assess the adequacy of clinical information with reference to the Ottawa Ankle Rules (OAR) in X-ray referrals for adults with traumatic ankle injury in the ED of a South Australian tertiary hospital and report upon referring trends between emergency department clinicians.

Methods: A retrospective clinical audit of adult ankle X-ray referrals in the emergency department was conducted. Eligible referrals were screened for their adherence to the OAR, patient details, clinical history and referrer.

Differential influence of habitual third-person vision of a body part on mental rotation of images of hands and feet.

Left/right judgement (LRJ) tasks involve determining the laterality of presented hand or feet images. Allocentric images (third-person perspective; 3PP) take longer to identify than egocentric images (first-person perspective; 1PP), supporting that implicit motor imagery (IMI)-mentally manoeuvring one's body to match the shown posture-is used. While numerous cognitive processes are involved during LRJs, it remains unclear whether features of the individual (e.

Measuring dexterity in the podiatrist population: a cross-sectional comparison of novice students and experienced podiatrists.

Background: There is no 'gold-standard' for the evaluation of dexterity for the health professional or podiatrist populations. This has resulted in a broad array of generalised tests to evaluate dexterity. Thus, the aim was to determine which objective generalised dexterity tests are best suited to evaluating dexterity in a podiatry student population.

Can ultrasound measures of intrinsic foot muscles and plantar soft tissues predict future diabetes-related foot disease? A systematic review.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with hyperglycaemia and advanced glycosylation end-products. In the foot, the consequences of chronic or uncontrolled diabetes are micro and macrovascular disease, neuropathy, reduced joint mobility and structural and soft tissue changes that increase the risk of ulcer development and amputation. Diabetes foot assessment currently includes a comprehensive history, neurological and vascular assessments and examination focussed on dermatological and musculoskeletal abnormalities.

The identification and reliability of static and dynamic barefoot impression measurements: A systematic review.

Objective: Barefoot impressions collected from crime scenes can be used in forensic analysis. The reliability of the measurement method employed during comparison of these foot impressions is paramount to prevent incorrect conclusions being made. A number of methods of obtaining measurements from barefoot impressions have been described in the research literature; however there has been no comprehensive review of their reliability.

Teaching of Manual Clinical Skills in Podiatric Medicine .

In the podiatric medicine profession, there are a variety of manual tasks that require precision and skill beyond what would be usually expected in everyday living. It is the expectation of employers, regulatory bodies, and the public that graduating podiatric physicians sufficiently meet certain minimum competencies for that profession, including those for manual skills. However, teaching and evaluation methods seem to be inconsistent between countries, institutions, and programs.

The typically developing paediatric foot: how flat should it be? A systematic review.

Background: All typically developing children are born with flexible flat feet, progressively developing a medial longitudinal arch during the first decade of their lives. Whilst the child's foot is expected to be flat, there is currently no consensus as to this foot should be. Furthermore, whilst feet are observed to decrease in flatness with increasing age, it is not known they should be at each age increment.

A qualitative evaluation of scalpel skill teaching of podiatry students.

Background: Degrees in health disciplines need a balance of theoretical knowledge and sufficient clinical practice to meet registration requirements, in particular those requiring specialist skills such as the use of scalpels and other small instruments, such as podiatry. However, despite this requirement there is a scarcity of literature and research to inform teaching of these particular manual clinical skills. Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine the current approaches being used to teach manual skills, in particular scalpel skills, in university podiatry programs in Australia and New Zealand, and to explore what issues, challenges and innovations exist.

The impact of increasing body mass on peak and mean plantar pressure in asymptomatic adult subjects during walking.

Introduction: The implication of high peak plantar pressure on foot pathology in individuals both with and without diabetes has been recognized. The aim of this study was to investigate and clarify the relationship between increasing body mass and peak and mean plantar pressure in an asymptomatic adult population during walking.

Methods: Thirty adults without any relevant medical history, structural foot deformities or foot posture assessed as highly pronated or supinated, and within a normal body mass index range were included in the study.

The effectiveness of non-surgical interventions in the treatment of Charcot foot.

Background  Charcot neuropathic osteoarthropathy is commonly known as 'Charcot foot'. It is a serious foot complication of diabetes mellitus that can frequently lead to foot ulceration, gangrene, hospital admission and foot amputation. A multidisciplinary approach to the management of Charcot foot is taken involving medical and allied health professionals.