Foot Care Performance and Foot Self-Care Behaviors in Iranian Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: A diabetic foot ulcer is one of the preventable complications of diabetes that can lead to amputation, morbidity, and mortality and increase treatment costs. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between self-care behaviors, demographic-clinical variables and, foot care performance in patients with diabetes. Materials and methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 191 patients with type 2 diabetes in Asadabad (Hamadan province) in 2021. The demographic-clinical information form, the diabetic foot care performance scale, and the diabetic foot self-care behavior scale were used to collect data. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (multiple linear regression). Data analysis was performed using R software version 4.1.0. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 50.58 ± 11.87 years, and the duration of diabetes was 8.55 ± 9.07 years. There was a significant relationship between foot self-care behavior and age (p = 0.027), primary and secondary education compared to university education (p=0.042), insulin use compared to use of oral agents and insulin (p = 0.014), the logarithm of the duration of diabetes (p = 0.0001), foot care performance (p = 0.010). Conclusions: The status of self-care behaviors in patients with diabetes is unfavorable, and it is necessary to provide the necessary training to these patients to improve self-care and foot care