The attitudes, behaviors, and opinions about non‐pharmacological agents in patients with tinea pedis

• Published in: Dermatologic therapy Vol. 33; no. 6; pp. e14041 - n/a
• Main Authors: Kara Polat, Asude, Akın Belli, Aslı, Göre Karaali, Müge, Koku Aksu, Ayşe Esra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.11.2020
• Subjects: Attitude; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; knowledge; Male; non‐pharmacological treatment; questionnaire; Risk Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; tinea pedis; Tinea Pedis - diagnosis; Tinea Pedis - therapy; non-pharmacological treatment; questionnaire; tinea pedis; attitude; knowledge
• ISSN: 1396-0296; 1529-8019
• DOI: 10.1111/dth.14041

Tinea pedis affects the life quality distinctly and patients those with a prolonged disease often resort to non‐medical methods. We sought to evaluate patients' knowledge about tinea pedis and approaches to the non‐pharmacological agents. A cross‐sectional study was conducted on 152 patients with tinea pedis who answered the survey between July and November 2019. Demographic and clinical features, patients' attitudes, behaviors, and opinions about non‐pharmacological treatments related to tinea pedis were evaluated. Of 152 patients, 65 (42.8%) were female and 87 (57.2%) were male. The frequency of at least one non‐pharmacological agent use for tinea pedis was 55.9%. The most common non‐pharmacological agent was cologne (27.0%), followed by saltwater, vinegar, and henna. The rate of non‐pharmacological agent use was not significantly different between genders and patients with different education levels. Information sources for tinea pedis were dermatologists in only 42 patients (27.8%). The opinion that the disease will improve spontaneously was not significantly different between the groups according to the education level (P = .154). Tinea pedis needs awareness as a health problem particularly in Muslim populations. Patients should be prevented from applying wrong practices and informed about the risk factors, contagiousness, and treatment options by physicians.