Factors influencing foot care behaviour among patients with diabetes: An integrative literature review
Ming Wei Jeffrey Woo, Jiao Cui
Abstract
AIM: The aim of the study was to examine factors influencing diabetic foot care behaviours (DFCBs) among patients with diabetes. DESIGN: An Integrative review using the Whittemore & Knafl five-stage framework. METHODS: A systematic search was performed to retrieve relevant peer-reviewed literature published in English between 2011 and 2021 across three electronic databases: CINAHL, Medline (PubMed) and Scopus. Following the quality appraisal, 35 papers were included in this review. RESULTS: This review revealed that patients' DFCBs were suboptimal. Additionally, four emerging themes were identified as the predictors of DFCB, namely: demographic characteristics as predictors of diabetic foot care behaviour; illness beliefs and perceptions as predictors of diabetic foot care behaviour; foot care knowledge as a predictor of diabetic foot care behaviour and foot care education as a predictor of diabetic foot care behaviour. This calls for nurses to devise educational strategies that adequately address these determinants to drive long-term positive DFCB among patients.