Lifestyle program to prevent diabetic foot ulcer recurrence
Official title: Evaluating the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Lifestyle Intervention to Prevent Recurrence of Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Pilot Study
Funded at University of Southern California · NIH-11112541 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A lifestyle occupational therapy program helps people with healed diabetic foot ulcers build daily habits and keep pressure off their feet to lower the chance the ulcers come back.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R03 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Southern California NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | July 1, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $124,500 |
| NIH project number | 5R03DK140420-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11112541 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with diabetes who have recently healed a foot ulcer and can attend occupational therapy sessions and follow-up visits at the study site are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People with active, unhealed foot ulcers, those needing immediate vascular or surgical care, or those unable to attend in-person visits are unlikely to benefit from this trial.
What this research studies
You would join a small randomized trial at the University of Southern California and be one of 60 people with recently healed diabetic foot ulcers. You would be randomly assigned to either a lifestyle-focused occupational therapy program or to a control group. The team will collect survey answers, interviews, and focus-group feedback about how acceptable and helpful the program feels, and will track whether ulcers come back and how your quality of life and diabetes-related distress change. The study combines numbers and patient stories to see if the program is doable and helpful for people like you.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the program could help people with healed diabetic foot ulcers stick with foot care and pressure offloading, lowering recurrence and improving daily functioning.
How similar studies have gone: While offloading and foot care are proven to reduce ulcer risk, using a lifestyle-focused occupational therapy program to improve long-term adherence is relatively new and has not been widely tested.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Tan, Tze-Woei — University of Southern California
- Study coordinator: Tan, Tze-Woei
Related research
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This study is testing a helpful program for people who have healed diabetic foot ulcers to learn better foot care habits and prevent them from coming back, with support from occupational therapy, and it’s looking for volunteers to see how well it works.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.