Effect of thermometry on the prevention of diabetic foot ulcers: a systematic review with meta-analysis*

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the effect of cutaneous foot thermometry in people with Diabetes Mellitus, compared with the standard prevention of foot ulcers adopted in these patients. METHOD: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Protocol registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020202686). The recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) were followed. The search was performed in the following data sources: SCOPUS, Web of Science, MEDLINE via PubMed, MEDLINE via EBSCO, MEDLINE via Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, LILACS via Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, Google Scholar, Biblioteca Digital Brasileira de Teses e Dissertações, Catálogo de Teses & Dissertações-Capes, Open Grey and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. The risk of bias was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool (RoB 2), the meta-analysis was performed in the Review Manager 5.4 software and the Certainty of evidence in the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system. RESULTS: of the 670 records, five articles were eligible. The meta-analysis was calculated for the prevention of the incidence of diabetic foot ulcers outcome, with effect summarization (RR 0.53; 95%CI 0.29-0.96; p=0.02), with certainty of moderate evidence. CONCLUSION: thermometry showed a protective effect on the incidence of diabetic foot ulcers when compared to standard foot care.