# Orthotic Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Patient Adherence to Prescribed Wear and Effectiveness of Treatment

> **NIH VA I01** · EDWARD HINES JR VA HOSPITAL · 2023 · —

## Abstract

Patients who present to Podiatry with a diabetic foot ulcer are prescribed orthoses to offload and protect the
foot from further damage. However, the available anecdotal and scholarly data suggests that patients do not wear
orthoses as prescribed. There are often negative health consequences when these orthoses are not worn and
added costs to the healthcare system associated with the negative health outcomes.
 The goal of this work is to encourage the use of orthoses by diabetic foot ulcer patients. The diabetic foot ulcer
patient’s participating in this study will have their orthosis wear-time measured between clinic visits. The use of
the orthosis will be encouraged in one group using education and motivational interviewing. Measured wear time
will also be discussed with this group of patients. The second group of patients will not be actively encouraged to
wear the orthosis. Routine clinical data will be collected in tandem with wear-time data in both groups.
 These data will be used to objectively determine how often patients wear their orthosis, whether active
intervention can modulate orthosis wear time, and provide an objective measure of the effectiveness of orthosis
use. The goal of the study is to improve outcomes for Veterans treated in the VA for diabetic foot ulcers, reduce
complication rates from non-use of orthoses and to, thereby, reduce healthcare costs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10609024
- **Project number:** 5I01RX003781-02
- **Recipient organization:** EDWARD HINES JR VA HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Muturi G Muriuki
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-04-01 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10609024

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10609024, Orthotic Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Patient Adherence to Prescribed Wear and Effectiveness of Treatment (5I01RX003781-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10609024. Licensed CC0.

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