Effectiveness of online education on thermography-based diabetic foot ulcer prevention for wound care specialists: a single-group quasi-experimental study

Background While there is an urgent need worldwide to establish methods that prevent diabetic foot ulcers, the effectiveness of a prevention protocol using thermography has been reported. As the number of diabetic patients in Indonesia is increasing, an online program for wound care specialists was developed to disseminate this protocol. The present study evaluated the impact of an online program on wound care specialists' knowledge of diabetic foot ulcer prevention using thermography. Methods This single-group quasi-experimental study was conducted in cooperation with the Indonesian Wound Enterostomal Continence Nurses Association with regard to curriculum and content design, and the evaluation methods of online education for thermography-based diabetic foot ulcer prevention using the learning management system. A questionnaire with 50 multiple-choice questions previously validated for content and readability on the knowledge of diabetic foot ulcer prevention using thermography was used for training evaluations. Results Of 106 Indonesian wound care specialists evaluated, the paired t-test revealed a significant difference between the before and after training questionnaire scores on knowledge (52.0 +/- 10.3, 85.2 +/- 10.6, respectively, p < 0.001). Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed interactions between time (before and after training) and gender, and between time and type of certificate (p = 0.046, p = 0.014, respectively). Conclusions An asynchronous e-learning program is an effective method to increase wound care specialists' knowledge of diabetic foot ulcer prevention. These findings suggest that online educational interventions are effective and can be tailored to meet the needs of healthcare professionals, thereby ultimately contributing to better patient care outcomes in preventing DFUs.