Examining risk factors for diabetic foot: assessing diabetes self-management in type 2 diabetes patients

Abstract

Objective

Poor sugar regulation heightens the risk of complications linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus, while the adoption of effective diabetes self-management strategies has been shown to mitigate these risks. The objective of the study was to investigate the risk factors for diabetic foot by evaluating diabetes self-management using the Diabetes Self-Management Scale in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without diabetic foot.

Methods

The study is a single-centre, prospective, cross-sectional study conducted between August 29, 2022 and November 29, 2022. A total of 133 patients who presented to the diabetes and diabetic foot outpatient clinic were selected using a simple random sampling method. In order to make the evaluation, the sociodemographic form and Diabetes Self-Management Scale has been used. Potential risk factors associated with the presence of diabetic foot were examined using multivariate logistic regression analysis. A significance level of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

The mean age of the patients was 60.35 years and 45.1% (60) of them were female. According to the results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis, having more than 12 years of education, receiving diabetes education, and having higher Diabetes Self-Management Scale total scores negatively predicted the presence of diabetic foot. On the other hand, the duration of diabetes, systolic blood pressure, and HbA1c levels positively predicted the presence of diabetic foot.

Conclusion

Effective diabetes self-management plays a crucial role in improving diabetes complications. Care should be taken regarding diabetic foot in patients who have difficulties in effective diabetes self-management, as well as those with high systolic blood pressure, high HbA1c levels, shorter total education duration, and longer duration of diabetes.