Predictors of foot care behaviours in patients with diabetes in Turkey

BACKGROUND: The management of diabetic foot complications is challenging, time-consuming and costly. Such complications frequently recur, and the feet of individuals with diabetes can be easily infected. The variables that predict foot care behaviours must be identified to improve foot care attitudes and behaviours. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the predictors of foot care behaviours in individuals with diabetes and the role of these variables. METHODS: This descriptive and analytic study was carried out between July 2015 and July 2016, and 368 outpatients with diabetes from a public hospital in Turkey were included. The participants had no communication, psychiatric or neurological problems and had been diagnosed with diabetes for at least 1 year. Foot care behaviour was the dependent variable and was evaluated with the foot care behaviour questionnaire. The relationship among foot care behaviours and sociodemographic characteristics, diabetes-related attitudes, disease perception, health beliefs and perceived social support was evaluated. Factors that independently predicted effective foot care behaviours were estimated via a linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The foot care behaviour score of the participants was above average (54.8 ± 5.0). Gender (t = −2.38, p = 0.018), history of a foot wound (t = −2.74, p = 0.006), nephropathy (t = 3.13, p = 0.002), duration subscale of the illness perception scores (t = 2.26, p = 0.024) and personal control subscale of the health belief scores (t = −2.07, p = 0.038) were significant predictors of foot care behaviours. These variables, which provided model compatibility, accounted for approximately 22.0% of the total variance of the foot care behaviour score (R = 0.47, R(2) = 0.22, F = 5.48, p ≤ 0.001). DISCUSSION: Our results show factors that may affect diabetic foot care behaviours. Several of these factors prevent individuals from practising these behaviours. Further studies on the roles of barriers as predictors of foot care behaviours must be conducted.