Diabetic ulcers prevention in the elderly for improving blood circulation of lower extremities with combination foot exercise therapy and electrophysical therapy

Abstract

Background: Diabetic foot ulcer is one of the complications of diabetes. The intervention for diabetic foot examination is the Ankle Brachial Index (ABI). Decreased ABI scores indicate decreased peripheral blood circulation in the extremities. An increase in ABI can be done by combining foot exercise therapy with electrophysical therapy. This study aims to analyze ABI scores in patients with type II diabetes performing a foot exercise combined with electrophysical therapy. Method: The research design is quasi-experimental, with a pretest-posttest comparison group used. The sampling method used was purposive sampling. A total of 120 respondents were divided into 2 groups: intervention and control. The intervention group was given diabetic foot exercises with a combination of electrophysical therapy, while the control group was given a standard intervention. The diabetic foot exercise was conducted daily in the morning for 4 weeks and lasted 20-30 minutes. Subsequently, the ABI score was assessed. Prior to the intervention, respondents’ ABI scores were measured. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26.0 for Windows. Result: We found that an increase in the ABI score by 0.113 was statistically significant at a p-value <0.05. After a month of the initial state, the ABI score by 0.758, and the p-value shows significance at <0.05. In comparison, an increased ABI score was observed after a month of the first intervention. There was an increase in the ABI score by 0.654 (p<0.05). Conclusion: Foot exercise therapy combined with electrophysical therapy was shown significantly increased repetitive muscle contractions and improve blood circulation, thus increasing the ABI score, which was higher than the control group.