WEDNESDAY, March 1, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Most non-foot specialist clinical faculty members at a large academic institution have poor or complete lack of knowledge of Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN), according to a study published online Feb. 8 in Clinical Diabetes and Endocrinology.
Brian M. Schmidt, D.P.M., from the University of Michigan Hospital and Health Systems in Ann Arbor, and colleagues assessed general knowledge relating to CN in non-foot specialist clinical faculty and examined their practice habits. Four hundred faculty members completed the survey; respondents were endocrinologists, internal medicine physicians, and family medicine physicians.
The researchers found that 67.6 percent of responders had a self-described poor or complete lack of knowledge of CN. The likelihood of providing correct initial management of CN was increased for clinicians with self-described better knowledge of CN (P < 0.001).
"In this large tertiary institution, a majority of providers among internal medicine, endocrinologists, and family medicine physicians demonstrated minimal or no knowledge of this rare, but potentially devastating, diabetes complication," the authors write. "Education, and the development of better understanding amongst clinicians, is crucial to limit the devastating effects of this condition in the future."
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