How patients interpret early signs of foot problems and reasons for delays in care: Findings from interviews with patients who have undergone toe amputations.

Aims: To describe how patients respond to early signs of foot problems and the factors that result in delays in care.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a large sample of Veterans from across the United States with diabetes mellitus who had undergone a toe amputation. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis.

Results: We interviewed 61 male patients. Mean age was 66 years, 41% were married, and 37% had a high school education or less. The patient-level factors related to delayed care included: 1) not knowing something was wrong, 2) misinterpreting symptoms, 3) "sudden" and "unexpected" illness progression, and 4) competing priorities getting in the way of care-seeking. The system-level factors included: 5) asking patients to watch it, 6) difficulty getting the right type of care when needed, and 7) distance to care and other transportation barriers.

Conclusion: A confluence of patient factors (e.g., not examining their feet regularly or thoroughly and/or not acting quickly when they noticed something was wrong) and system factors (e.g., absence of a mechanism to support patient's appraisal of symptoms, lack of access to timely and convenient-located appointments) delayed care. Identifying patient- and system-level interventions that can shorten or eliminate care delays could help reduce rates of limb loss.