Main institution:
Case Western Reserve University

Other institutions:
Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine
Cleveland Sight Center
Diabetes Partnership of Cleveland

Principal investigator:
Ann Williams

Other investigators:
Bryan Cadwell; Jill Kawalec-Caroll

Location of the project:
Cleveland, USA

Amount allocated:
USD 65,000

Date:
September 1, 2010 - August 31, 2012

Objectives:
The purpose of this study is to find out whether a method of nonvisual foot inspection, using the senses of touch and smell, helps people with diabetes and visual impairment to find new foot problems when they are in early, easily-treated stages. All people in the study will have regular foot inspections by podiatrists. We will look at how people feel about the method, whether they actually do it, and whether the method helps them to discover foot problems themselves, instead of waiting to have problems discovered by the podiatrist.

Results to date (November 2012)

Article

• Diabetes Voice, June 2011 " Appraising the multi-safe approach to low vision and diabetes: A simple technique for saving feet" [2]

Presentation

• 21st World Diabetes Congress, Dubai, December 2011 (1 poster and 1 presentation)
• 73rd Scientific Sessions of the ADA, Chicago, June 2013 (1 poster)

BRIDGES (Bringing Research in Diabetes to Global Environments and Systems) is a programme initiated by the International Diabetes Federation [3], and supported by an educational grant from Lilly Diabetes.