Background Foot health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians’ has not been established. Additionally, studies have shown that there is a lack of engagement of this population with general preventive foot care services. The aim of this study was to establish foot health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people attending two recently developed, culturally safe podiatry services in rural and regional New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Secondarily the relationship between self-perceived foot health and some medical and demographic characteristics was investigated. Methods This descriptive cross-sectional study included participants attending the culturally safe foot health care services managed by the University of Newcastle on the Central Coast or in Wellington, both located in NSW, Australia. At the consultation, participants completed the Foot Health Status Questionnaire (FHSQ) with the assistance of an Aboriginal health care worker, underwent basic vascular and neurological screening, and podiatric treatment. Results A total of 111 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (48 from the Central Coast, and 63 from Wellington) were included. FHSQ scores for pain (75.7 ± 26.8), function (80.2 ± 25.2), footwear (53.9 ± 33.4), and general foot health (62.0 ± 30.9) were generally good, but below the optimal score of 100. The presence of diabetes ( n = 39 of 111 participants or 35.1%) was associated with lower levels of self-perceived foot function (r = − 0.20, n = 107, p = 0.04). Conclusion We found that community-based foot health care services that are culturally safe are utilised by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples not currently at high risk of foot complications. This supports the use of culturally safe foot care services to improve engagement with preventative foot care. Future research should continue to be driven by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and investigate ways to implement additional screening measures and undertake prospective evaluation of the impact of such services on health related outcomes in these communities.

中文翻译：

---

澳大利亚新南威尔士州地区和农村的土著和托雷斯海峡岛民的足部健康

背景 澳大利亚原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民的足部健康状况尚未确定。此外，研究表明，该人群缺乏一般预防足部护理服务的参与。本研究的目的是在澳大利亚新南威尔士州 (NSW) 农村和地区参加两个最近开发的文化安全足病服务机构的土著和托雷斯海峡岛民中建立足部健康状况。其次，调查了自我感知的足部健康与一些医学和人口统计学特征之间的关系。方法 这项描述性横断面研究包括参加由位于澳大利亚新南威尔士州中央海岸或惠灵顿的纽卡斯尔大学管理的文化安全足部保健服务的参与者。在咨询中，参与者在土著卫生保健工作者的协助下完成了足部健康状况问卷 (FHSQ)，接受了基本的血管和神经系统筛查以及足病治疗。结果 共有 111 名澳大利亚原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民（48 名来自中央海岸，63 名来自惠灵顿）。FHSQ 在疼痛 (75.7 ± 26.8)、功能 (80.2 ± 25.2)、鞋类 (53.9 ± 33.4) 和一般足部健康 (62.0 ± 30.9) 方面的评分总体良好，但低于 100 的最佳评分。 存在糖尿病 ( n = 111 名参与者中的 39 名或 35.1%）与较低水平的自我感知足部功能相关（r = − 0.20，n = 107，p = 0.04）。结论 我们发现，目前没有足部并发症高风险的土著和托雷斯海峡岛民使用在文化上安全的基于社区的足部保健服务。这支持使用文化上安全的足部护理服务来提高预防性足部护理的参与度。未来的研究应继续由原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民推动，并调查实施额外筛查措施的方法，并对此类服务对这些社区健康相关结果的影响进行前瞻性评估。