Authors' recommendations: For patients with diabetic foot ulcers, there is a substantial daily burden of care and emotional weight associated with the condition. The worrisome possibility of amputation leads patients to carefully monitor and care for their feet and to seek out effective means of treatment. Patients felt that the information available in the health care community on HBOT as a treatment option for diabetic foot ulcers was difficult to obtain. However, when such information was provided by the patients' own health care providers, the patients felt better informed. Patients who received HBOT for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers felt HBOT was a highly effective treatment, reporting satisfaction with wound healing and an improvement in their quality of life. Although patients felt that receiving HBOT was a simple process, they also felt it required a substantial time commitment, and they incurred associated costs. For the patients we interviewed, the perceived effectiveness of HBOT outweighed the costs of travel, time commitment, and other out-of-pocket costs required to complete treatment.

Project Status: Completed

Year Published: 2017

URL for published report: http://www.hqontario.ca/Portals/0/documents/evidence/reports/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-may-2017-en.pdf

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: Canada

Organisation Name: Health Quality Ontario

Contact Address: Evidence Development and Standards, Health Quality Ontario, 130 Bloor Street West, 10th floor, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1N5

Contact Name: EDSinfo@hqontario.ca

Contact Email: OH-HQO_hta-reg@ontariohealth.ca

Copyright: Health Quality Ontario (HQO)