Adherence toWearing Prescription Custom-Made Footwear in Patients With Diabetes at High Risk for Plantar

OBJECTIVEdPrescription custom-made footwear can only be effective in preventing diabetic foot ulcers if worn by the patient. Particularly, the high prevalence of recurrent foot ulcers focuses the attention on adherence, for which objective data are nonexisting. We objectively assessed adherence in patients with high risk of ulcer recurrence and evaluated what determines adher-ence. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSdIn 107 patients with diabetes, neuropathy, a recently healed plantar foot ulcer, and custom-made footwear, footwear use was measured during 7 consecutive days using a shoe-worn, temperature-based monitor. Daily step count was measured simultaneously using an ankle-worn activity monitor. Patients logged time away from home. Adherence was calculated as the percentage of steps that prescription footwear was worn. Determinants of adherence were evaluated in multivariate linear regression analysis. RESULTSdMean 6 SD adherence was 71 6 25%. Adherence at home was 61 6 32%, over 3,9596 2,594 steps, and away from home 876 26%, over 2,6046 2,507 steps. In 35 patients with low adherence (,60%), adherence at home was 28 6 24%. Lower BMI, more severe foot deformity, and more appealing footwear were significantly associated with higher adherence